Rewrite: Successor of Death
by MagnaVictoria
Summary: Honestly, he was feeling a little guilty. He had sworn that if he could, he would make sure that no child lived like he did. However, after he became Death, the only thing he did was brood. Now, he wishes to recitify his mistakes by taking care of the innocent, adorable blonde child that reminds him so much of himself. Powerful!Naruto, Harry as Death. ItaNaru.
1. Prologue

**_AN: Hello, Everyone! As you probably have guessed, this is the rewrite of SoD. The pairing shall stay the same as the previous one (Itachi/Naruto), so if you don't like slash, don't read! Happy New Year, people!_**

 ** _Additionally, apparently no one wants to see a het version of this story. Meh, whatever, I don't really care. I'll leave the poll up for a bit longer, but it's definitely going to be taken down by the time I manage to rewrite all currently existing chapters of this story. The Prologue is pretty much the same as the last one, but the rest will differ more from the original chapters._**

* * *

 ** _Prologue_**

* * *

Katelyn Dalton, aka Fortuna, was not a happy soul. She was not a happy soul at all. Currently, she was a brooding and annoyed soul. Glaring at the monster known as paperwork on her desk, she sighed, her forehead connecting with her desk with a thump. This would have been a comical scene for anyone that had walked inside to see.

Why, you ask?

Simply for the reason that Katelyn Dalton was a sixteen year old girl who also went by the identity of Fate. Her hair was silver and glowed slightly, an ethereal feel to it, reaching mid back. Her face was aristocratic with high cheek bones and a petite nose. She had a timeless feel to her and was blessed with a figure many would kill for. Her eyes were heterochromic, one a glowing gold, the other a bright blue. All in all, she was a very attractive, unearthly looking woman due to being Fate. Thus the reason her repeated attempts at giving herself a concussion being very comical for an outsider.

As was already established, Katelyn was not a happy person. Really, if you had been killed in a car accident due to Fate getting an idiot drunk in order to run you over at the age of sixteen, you wouldn't be happy either. Especially if you we're only just getting excited about being a god until you realized you had to do paperwork and your predecessor only chose another Fate to dump all his responsibilities on you and happily pass on into the afterlife.

Damn the previous gods for giving everyone paperwork, damn humans for inventing paperwork, damn immortals for adopting paperwork as punishment for not following rules, damn immortals for deciding to be more like humans. And, last but not least, damn paperwork for making life horrible and boring.

No, Katelyn was not happy at all. And she chose this wonderful day to reflect upon this and curse her predecessor to a horrible afterlife, not caring of if it would work or not.

Just as she was about to open her mouth to say something that would have caused sailors to faint if they hear the door to her office slammed open, revealing her colleague, Death. She noted absently that he seemed to be angry about something as she turned her head so that she could see him while her face was still against the wood.

Death raised an eyebrow at her position and she gestured towards the small mountain of paperwork on her desk. Death, the jerk, actually smirked at her predicament and forgot his anger for amusement, making her scowl in response.

Damn Death for not having paperwork monsters to torment him. She mentally smirked, planning on playing hooky by dumping her paperwork at his office.

Death then cleared his throat, running a hand through his shoulder length, messy black hair as he became serious again. Fate was intrigued. Death rarely came into the realm of immortals, preferring to watch over the mortal realm. She lifted her face from her desk and looked into glowing green eyes as the other opened his mouth to speak.

"I want the records on the future and past of someone as well as all and any prophecies made about that someone."

Fate raised an eyebrow. Who had caught his attention? "Why?" She asked back, "For whom?"

Death sighed, but ignored her questions. "I also need you to help me get a way to be able to stay in the mortal realm," he added.

Fortuna blinked before smirking, fangirlism from her past self resurfacing. "Found someone who interested you, Potter? Is it a guy or a girl? Are they cute? How old are they? I hope it's a guy!" She squealed. "This is going to be great!"

Death, previously known as Harry James Potter, held back a shudder when he realized that his colleague had fangirl tendencies in her. With his ascension to the Master of Death status, which was really just Death's successor, he had become as ethereal as all other immortals. Beautiful, for the lack of a better word, with an otherworldly grace and aura. He was taller than before, much to his delight, and had an androgynous look. He then gave another sigh. "No, I have not fallen in love with some random mortal. I need the files on one Uzumaki Naruto. Tell me everything you can about him."

Fortuna was skeptical about his denial and reasons, but shrugged, agreeing to help anyways. As she rose though, she asked, "Why?"

"I just want to know..." Was the distracted reply she got, the raven haired man losing himself in memories. "I think I have found the perfect successor."

The corner of Fate's mouth twitched as she moved into the adjoining room. "Well," she drawled, "Here's my advice, don't plan his death on sight."

* * *

"Demon!"

"Monster!"

"Freak!"

It was the tenth of October, the day that Konoha would celebrate the Kyuubi festival. It was also the birthday of a certain young blonde. The night air was chilling and lights lit up the festive streets of Konohagakure as people drunk themselves into oblivion, celebrating the victory against the Kyuubi no Kitsune. Yet, not everyone was celebrating. Ironically, the one in the least festive mood was the birthday boy himself. Although, the reason why was obvious.

Painfully so.

Said birthday boy was none other than Uzumaki Naruto. The young, newly turned five year old was currently trying to get away from the angry mob who, as always on his birthday, was trying to beat him to death. He was running as fast as his short legs could carry him, terrified at the thought of being caught. However, he was only five and could not outrun grown adults, especially when there were shinobi after him, too. Just as this thought emerged, a young shinobi dropped down in front of him, advancing with a kunai in hand.

"Let's kill the demon!"

Naruto turned down an alleyway, avoiding the shinobi, heart pounding in fear. Another dropped in front of him and he came to halt, stumbling back. The ninja's face was gleeful at having caught the young boy. His hand raised as he prepared to deliver the first strike, making Naruto cringe back in fear, falling down and curling in on himself to try and protect himself from the pain.

The words of the villagers came into his mind. Was he really a demon deserving of death? Maybe he was. Maybe he deserved this, too...

There was a moment of silence and Naruto opened his eyes when no pain came. He caught the sight of a mangled body in front of him, the same ninja that tried to attack him, before a hand obscured his vision. He sucked in a startled breath, whimpering in fear, but a voice shushed him. He felt a warm body behind his back, a hand rubbing in soothing motions.

"Calm down little one... No one will hurt you now... It's fine... You're going to be okay..." The voice was musical and gentle and Naruto relaxed slightly, feeling tired. "Get some rest, little one, that must have been quite a scare..." Then, the young boy fell into the arms of sleep.

* * *

Death was angry. He wanted to be angry at Fate, but he knew it wasn't really her fault. When he saw the young one, it brought back memories of the past. But this young child had it worse. Not only was he the target of some prophecy that forced him to save the world and bring peace, he was also a human sacrifice who kept the village from danger by housing one of the, if not the most powerful demon of his world. Then, he was treated worse than crap by the very ones he was sacrificed for.

Death sneered in disgust as he looked upon the files Fate had given him.

If he hadn't interfered, the young boy would've become like him, a selfless, self sacrificing weapon for am place that shouldn't have earned the right to demand anything from him. Well, at least The Sandaime wasn't a manipulative old coot. These villagers were the real demons if you we're to ask him. How the Yondaime could've sacrificed his own child for people like this was beyond him. How Naruto could be so pure and nice was beyond him, too. If they weren't demons, they were, at least, stupid. Who would antagonize someone they believed had the power to destroy the village anyways?

Well, no longer would this go on, because he was going to give this young boy a chance to live. He was going to give him a chance to live the way he wanted to.

Gently, he picked up the small body within his arms and weaved a strand of his being into the young one's soul, tying him to a mortal being and therefore the mortal plane. He would take care of the boy. He hadn't done anything like this before, even when he saw the similarities between the other children and himself. He was going to repent by taking care of this child. For so long, he had just been a bystander, despite not wanting another child to suffer like him. He had hoped that the world would become a better place. It seemed, however, that humans would never change.

Naruto was his salvation and his peace.

Cradling his precious bundle carefully, Death walked, floating, up into the sky to find a secluded place to raise his child, his heir. Of course, he didn't forget to disillusion them with his magic.

As he walked through the air, he quickly searched for a suitable place to nurse his heir back to health. It wasn't long before he found the perfect place. Turning on the spot, he apparated with a barely audible crack. It wouldn't do for ninja to come investigate.

When the two reappeared, they were in the middle of a forest. A giant snake that was nearby froze at the sound of apparation before fleeing as soon as its eyes fell on the small figure that had suddenly appeared. Harry looked around and grinned in satisfaction. He had heard that this place was called the Forest of Death. It was, apparently used a one of the training grounds in Konoha and perfect for him. It was named after him, after all. Even though it wasn't very private, being a part of Konoha and all, he knew that people rarely came here and that his presence would give them a reason to avoid this place. He was Death after all...

A cackle came out of his mouth followed by an evil smirk before he blinked out of it and sighed. Being more or less immortal really does take a toll on your sanity.

* * *

Kurama, AKA the demon fox, the Kyuubi no Yoko or Kitsune (either works for him), could tell, despite the fact that he was buried so deeply in the brat's mind that he was practically completely separated from it, that something had happened. Or maybe someone. All this time, he had felt sleepy and heavy while being trapped in here, which, he knew, meant that he just wasn't close enough to the surface of his container's mind to make a difference. And, though that weariness was wearing off, the most he could do was access his host's memories. However, right now, he felt energized.

It was the pain and desperation from his host that had made him stir, but that was followed by an aura of pulsing energy that had waked him up fully. His eyes narrowed. What could've happened? Here, behind these bars, he could see the boy's mindscape. It was odd, to say the least. There were winding pipes overhead and water on the ground. It looked weird, but Kyuubi had seen weirder.

A gasp brought him out of the careful scrutiny he was giving his surroundings and made him look down. In the doorway of his... Room... There was a young boy with blinding yellow blonde hair and clear blue eyes. Ah... His host.

"Wh-what are you?" were the first words out of the brat's mouth. Kyuubi shifted into a more comfortable position and grinned maliciously at the child. To his credit, the child didn't even flinch; he merely narrowed his eyes and crept closer.

"Ah... Brat. You've finally come to visit?" The fox demon asked, his grin widening.

"Visit?"

"I've been getting lonely..." Kyuubi crooked a finger, beckoning for the child to get closer. And, out of childish curiosity, he did. "I need someone... To join me!" With that, he lashed out at the child, claws gleaming, and the child's eyes widened, arms raised in an attempt at self defense. _I've got the little brat now..._ the Kyuubi thought, grinning.

"Stop!" The voice startled both fox and child and they realized that another had joined them. The man had merely put up a hand and Kyuubi suddenly froze, unable to move.

Kyuubi snarled, face contorting in anger. Who was this person and how dare he stop him, the Kyuubi, from playing with his prey!? "Who are you!?" He asked, growling menacingly as he retracted his hand.

The man, though admittedly enchanting, actually dared to ignore Kyuubi and turn his back, facing the child instead, who was looking at the man with wide-eyed wonder.

"Are you alright?" The man asked, making the brat blink out of his stupor, ignoring the growling fox behind him all the while.

Then the brat gave a wide grin. "Yes, thank you, pretty nee-chan!" He chirped, seemingly forgetting about the giant, deadly, and very much pissed fox demon. Said fox demon couldn't help but give a snort at the brat's response. Couldn't the brat tell that it was a male who had saved him?

The man chuckled. "I'm a guy."

"Eh!?" Came the ever so eloquent and incredulous response, "But-but you're more prettier than the girls I've seen, nee-chan! You can't be a boy! It's not possible!"

"Well, I am an exception. I am simply a guy that is very pretty," the man said patiently. Kyuubi, however, did not possess the same patience the man did and was getting very, very impatient.

"Don't ignore me, human!" He snarled, claws lashing out to strike at the man that seemed to be mocking him...

Only to be shocked by a burst of high voltage electricity when he got near.

Kyuubi howled with pain, reeling back, tails thrashing around. "You..." He growled, "I'LL KILL YOU!" He gave a threatening roar that made the brat edge back, arms raised as it whipped up a strong wind. The man was unmoved. Kyuubi glared at the man, staring him down, but the man just looked back at him with an indifferent expression on his face.

The expression made Kyuubi's blood boil. He snarled and growled when, suddenly, an aura flared around the man, an aura that he recognized. He paled beneath his red fur and flinched back, trying to get away from the oppressing aura to no avail. Oh crap. Why was this... Person here of all places!?

As if answering Kurama's unspoken question, Death spoke.

"Kyuubi no Yoko, Kurama, I'm here to make a deal with you..."

* * *

Naruto was waking up. He knew he was waking up, yet he somewhat didn't want to. He knew, when he woke up, he would wake up to white sheets, a white ceiling, white everything. He always woke up in the hospital after a run in with the villagers, but this year, the villagers hadn't been very harsh, so it didn't really make sense that he'd be in a hospital... Oh how he hated the hospital.

He groaned, wondering if the Hokage was going to be there when he woke up or not, before suddenly realizing that he wasn't on a lumpy hospital bed, but a soft, silky one. He snuggled further into the covers, loving the way they felt around him. So soft... He had never felt a bed like this.

He opened his eyes reluctantly and braced himself for the pain that was coming when light would make contact with his eyes. To his surprise and immense confusion, however, the room was rather dark and large, probably around the size of his apartment, but cosy.

He could hear the crackling of a fire and see the light coming in from through the ceiling, which looked like black stone. He sat up and realized that he was on a large, four-poster bed with dark crimson silk sheets, emerald-green curtains and what looked to be trees winding up the posts. Now that he looked, there were a lot of plants on his side of the room, he realized, and they reached all the way up to the ceiling. There a fireplace made of grey stone on the other side, built into the stone wall. The walls were, unlike the ceiling, a light, beige color and the floor, he realized after close inspection, was made up of... Grass? And flowers... A couple of pictures of people and odd creatures hung on the walls. There were also a vast amount of pillows in dark colors on his bed as well and he immediately snatched one up, hugging it to his chest as he wondered where he might be.

Naruto then suddenly remembered the dream he had. He frowned. It was a very weird dream. He dreamt that someone had saved him, then he had met a giant red... Fox? Cat?... Something in a place that looked like the sewers. Then, a man, a really pretty man that he accidentally called nee-chan - he blushed when he remembered his mistake - had saved him from the fox and began talking to the giant creature about something... Then, he had woken up.

He lifted the sheet and, taking off the silk pajamas he had just realized he was wearing, looked himself over. He was healed. Any bruises, cuts, and whatnot he previously had on his body were gone. He blinked and relaxed, feeling refreshed and safe for the first time in weeks. Whoever had him had taken care of him. Maybe... Just maybe he could be safe here?

There was a creek and Naruto's head snapped around to look at the door he had previously thought was a painting. The man from his dreams, or maybe it was really real, walked inside and Naruto watched him, wide-eyed as he walked over, smiling kindly.

"I'm glad to see that you're awake, child," the man said, moving closer, "How are you feeling?"

"Great!" Naruto managed, beaming, "Thank you for asking, pretty nee - I mean, nii-san. Where am I though? And who are you?"

Death smiled indulgently before answering the question with a question of his own. "Why don't you tell me your name first?"

"My name's Naruto! Uzumaki Naruto!" The young boy grinned widely when introducing himself, giddy at finding someone else that seemed to be sympathetic towards, or even like him. The older man's expression was serene and he wasn't glaring. His eyes were warm and amused and he was smiling – smiling! – at him, even though he accidentally called him nee-chan. Naruto blushed slightly in embarrassment at the thought. "Can you tell me your name now?"

"Me? I am Death."

There was a period of silence as Death watched Naruto's expression change from one of giddy happiness to shocked and possibly frightened awe. Of course, being the child that he was, Naruto was inclined to believe him.

"Death!?" Naruto squeaked, "D-does that mean I'm d-d-dead?" His voice was embarrassingly small and sad as he gazed up at the being that called himself Death with wide-eyed horror.

Death just sighed through his nose, smiling. "No, Naruto, you aren't dead."

The young boy sighed in relief before his expression became confused once more. "Then... Why are you here? And where is here?" He became scared again and tensed suddenly, curling up. He flinched when Death narrowed his eyes. "Are you here to kill me? Are you here to do what the villagers have always wanted to do? Am I too much of a demon to live anymore? They always said I was a demon; that I deserved to die."

Death didn't reply, instead, he got up, earning another flinch from the Jinchuriki, and hugged the young boy to his chest, much to Naruto's shock.

"No, Naruto," Death murmured as he rubbed the boy's back soothingly, "I'm not here to kill you. Or hurt you. You don't deserve everything that had happened to you. You aren't a demon and you don't deserve death. Those villagers are stupid bas - er, people, who can't see how great you are. They are the ones that don't deserve to live. They are the real demons." Death said this with such conviction and passion that Naruto couldn't help but believe him. He then realized that he was crying. No one else had ever said something like that to him, not even Hokage-jiji. He relaxed into the older man's arms and cried, feeling grateful when the other just continued to hold him, not even complaining about the tears.

Eventually, Naruto calmed down and pulled away, blushing in embarrassment at crying. Ninjas were strong and did not cry. How could he be a ninja if he was so weak? How would he be able to get the acknowledgement he desired from the village he loved like this... But... now that he thought about it... Perhaps he didn't love the village. The villagers were all mean to him and the only two people to have ever shown him affection were Hokage-jinni and Death. He felt warm and safe here with Death, much like how he would imagine being with his father would feel like. He already liked Death more than anyone else he had met, even Hokage-jiji, despite having only met him twice and talked to him for a little while. Death had just given him comfort like he saw mothers and fathers giving when their children tripped or something. Somehow, he felt a connection to Death, an understanding.

"You... You won't kill the villagers, will you?" He then asked, staring up into Death's green eyes.

Death's eye twitched and he forced a smile. "If you don't want me to then I will leave them be, even though they have hurt the one I think of as a son."

Naruto's eyes grew wide. "C-can I stay here? With you?" He asked, suddenly feeling extremely shy.

"Of course. That's what I was hoping you would say."

Naruto broke down again.

* * *

The Hokage was not a happy soul. No, he wasn't a happy soul at all. He was old and, like Fate (not that he knew), he had to deal with a lot of paperwork. He sighed, eyeing the piles of paperwork piled up on his desk wearily. He sighed again. Not only did he have to deal with paperwork, but the past month didn't go so well for him. Exactly three weeks ago was the Kyuubi Festival and, as always, he had his crystal ball out to make sure that Naruto was alright. As soon as he had seen the boy running, he knew what was happening and immediately called his ANBU to go and help the young boy. He had been prepared to set off as well, until something... Strange happened. The crystal ball showed a picture of the mangled body of some poor shinobi before it went blank. And that was when problems started.

When he and the ANBU got to where he had last seen the Jinchuriki, all they had found was an empty alleyway and the horribly mangled corpse of a ninja of Konoha. He grimaced at remembering the corpse. It looked as if it had been skinned and it was already rotting when they got there. Naruto, on the other hand, was nowhere to be seen. And they hadn't seen him since.

Of course, he, as Hokage, had immediately sent search parties to try and find him as well as used his crystal ball, but every search turned up blank. They had even tried searching around the village.

He massaged his temples, sighing again.

He had failed his successor, the Yondaime, in protecting his child. He had failed to protect Minato's legacy. He frowned, beginning to panic inwardly. What if someone kidnapped him? No, everyone who knew the truth or part of the truth was forbidden by law to speak of it. What if he was dead? No, he didn't find a body, so he had absolutely no proof that Naruto was dead. But, then again, the crystal ball wasn't working... No, the Sandaime shook his head, he wouldn't think such depressing thoughts.

His mind wandered to the next problem. Recently, the animals of the Forest of Death had taken to mauling anyone who got inside. They hunted intruders down and attempted to kill them, usually in groups. It was really odd and two jonin had already been fatally injured. A weird, black, crystal-like dome had also appeared in the middle of the forest. Something strange was going on in there, but, so far, no one had managed to get to the dome yet. The entire forest seemed to be rebelling, attacking and lashing out at intruders. In fact, a giant willow tree had almost ripped someone apart just yesterday. How that was possible was beyond him.

The Sandaime sighed. He was getting too old for this...


	2. Return

**_Chapter 1: Return_**

* * *

On one bright dawn of October the tenth, exactly seven years from the time of Naruto's disappearance, found one Hatake Kakashi at the Memorial Stone like most days. Unlike most days, his eyes were glued to one name and one name only.

 _Namikaze Minato_

 _Minato-Sensei... I failed you... Again._ Kakashi bowed his head, brow furrowing as he stared at the ground. His fists were clenched at his sides, nails making intentions in his palms. He wasn't crying. No, he was far from crying, but he felt as if he was being ripped up from the inside anyways. He healed and ripped himself up again and again. Each time he felt like he was losing them, he would force himself to remember. _I couldn't protect you... Or your son. I should've been there!_ He gritted his teeth before sighing and slumping.

Dwelling on the past was something that he really shouldn't do. Everyone had told him that he should let go of the past to look towards the future. But Kakashi was unable to. He was trapped in a single moment, in several single moments, individual moments, which haunted him again and again. He coped though. He let himself mourn, he trained in remembrance of them all and he got stronger, never stagnated, in their name. Kakashi did not live for himself, he lived for the people he cared for, which were slowly diminishing, but still there. He lived for all those that had died to keep him alive, to protect this precious village.

But Kakashi could no longer see this village as precious to him, only as something precious to those that came before him and to those that he lived for.

He had known, but now he wished that he hadn't. Had he not known who Naruto was, had he not known of what Naruto was containing, he could remove some of the blame, heal a little, heal a little permanently. He wished he hadn't known so he could keep the part of him that loved every aspect of his villae alive, to look through rose-tinted vision once more. It was a selfish one, but a true one.

They all had to cope.

He didn't like how the villagers had treated Naruto, at all. In fact, he could say that he outright hated some of them. He understood that Naruto was keeping them safe. He wished that he had gotten to know the kid better... And now? The blonde child was gone. Gone. Dead, most likely. And it was all their fault. He hated.

And it was his fault. He had been assigned to watch over Naruto that day. He had stopped to try and suppress the mob, but when he had gotten to the alley where Naruto was, all he had found was a dead ninja and no Naruto.

It was a rather gruesome sight, even for him. The corpse was already rotting when he had gotten there, skin and flesh slashed open in several places on the body, insides turned out. He was just glad that he didn't see Naruto's corpse. If he had... He would've probably died of guilt.

He should've been there. He should've been there to stop whatever had killed the other ninja from killing Naruto, too.

Kakashi heard the bushes rustle behind him, but didn't move a muscle. He knew who it was. After all, they always came on this day to this place ever since the disappearance of Naruto.

Jiraiya of the Sanin.

The white haired ninja moved to stand beside his student's student, looking at the Memorial student as well. After the news of the death of his student's son, Jiraiya had taken time every October tenth to come back to Konoha. It was partially out of guilt and partially out of loyalty towards his student. He and Kakashi were the only ones. They would come here at dawn and leave after the sun fully rose. It was a tradition of theirs that hadn't changed in the past seven years. If their first meeting had been any other day, Kakashi would've probably been in awe of the author of his favorite series. However, Kakashi had never forgiven the Sanin for not being there for Naruto. He knew that the Sanin was Naruto's godfather, the Hokage had told him so.

"Jiraiya-sama," Kakashi greeted quietly. The other only nodded in response, oddly quiet as usual on this day.

The two stood in silence as the sun rose, mourning and remembering. It was a melancholy silence, yet not exactly uncomfortable, almost peaceful yet not. It was a silence that had occurred every year and a silence that was soon filled with noises of the morning. Birds chirped and the wind blew. To the two there, it was a day of remembrance, but no matter what happens, the sun always rises tomorrow, even if you feel as if it shouldn't.

The silence brought them tragic thoughts, but also a sense of forgivness.

As the sun's rays spread and strengthened, the silence was broken by a loud shout.

"Kakashi! Jiraiya-sama!"

The two turned to the intruder of their silence. It was Asuma Saturobi. The jonin landed in front of the two, a slightly confused and panicked look on his face.

"The Hokage requests your presence urgently!"

The two mournful ninja looked at each other before immediately heading for the Hokage tower. They knew it must be really urgent if the Hokage had requested them specifically on such a day. Usually, Sarutobi would just let them stay at the Memorial Stone.

 _What could've happened?_

* * *

Hiruzen Sarutobi puffed on his pipe as he composed himself. He thought that he might have nearly had a heart attack just now. He couldn't believe what he had seen. But... It was real. His crystal ball had never been wrong before and there were even reports on sightings by ninjas that handed in mission reports. At first he had brushed them off as hallucinations, but now he couldn't argue with the fact that what he had seen was real.

He had never given up the hope that Naruto was alive and that was what led to his discovery. Every year on Naruto's birthday, the first thing he did when he got up was to try and search for Naruto using his crystal ball. He always woke at the crack of dawn to do so, too.

This year was no different. He had been fully expecting the ball to show nothing but it's clear blue depths as always, but he had been surprised when images flickered within. So, of course, he had redoubled his efforts, the hope in him growing.

Imagine his surprise when the scene he came upon was not of Naruto, but of the Yondaime. He had stared, stunned, at the scene.

Minato had been just as he remembered. Young, serene and cheerful. He had a bright smile on his face and a sad look in his eyes as he laughed at something in front of him, making encouraging motions. Then, he had beamed with pride at whatever he was watching. And Sarutobi had been so shocked that his mouth had fell open as he stared. Then there was Kushina, in all her fiery glory, walking over to stand by the Yondaime, looking over at whatever the Yondaime was looking at with obvious pride. Then the image had flickered and died and trying to look for Minato or Kushina had no longer worked, just as it should with a dead person or dead people.

Baffled, the third Hokage decided to try and find Naruto once more, deciding that the last scene was just a fragment of his imagination. Therefore, he was very, very surprised to see a scene of Hizashi Hyuuga, the Hyuuga clan head's _dead_ twin brother, and Shisui Uchiha, the _dead_ Uchiha genius that committed suicide, sparring, Byakugan and Sharingan active respectively. Again, his mouth had dropped open as he stared before the image once again died.

He had shaken his head to clear it, unbelieving of what he had just seen. But then he had used the ball again. This time, however, was what shocked him the most. The Shodai Hokage and his brother, the Nidaime Hokage were, in the crystal ball, standing side by side as they barked out silent orders towards an unseen person. It was further proved to Hizuren that this pair was the real deal when Hashirama suddenly used Mokuton and accidentally knocked his brother off his feet. He quickly apologized, seeming shocked that he had hurt his brother, only to be kicked in the shin by said brother and fall over.

The image dispelled just as quickly, but it left behind a thoroughly gaping and shaken Hokage. The crystal ball had never failed before and yet... And yet, all these people were there, but meant to be dead!

It took a while to recover before he told the nearest ninja, which happened to be his son, to get Jiraiya and Kakashi quickly. He then sent messages to each clan head, requesting their presence as soon as possible.

Which brings us back to now.

Just as the Hokage decided to spare himself the headache in thinking about everything that he had seen, the door opened, admitting everyone he had requested for. At once, he leaned forwards, lacing his fingers together and placing his chin on top.

Everyone seemed to be tense and apprehensive, though they didn't show it on their faces. Some betrayed confusion in their eyes and a few of the clan heads were talking quietly as they waited for Sarutobi to start speaking.

The Hokage quickly activated the security seals and coughed to begin. Everyone's attention was immediately on him.

"We have a very... Interesting situation. As many of you know, there is a crystal ball technique that is used to track chakra patterns. Today, I was, once again attempting to find one Uzumaki Naruto with this jutsu. However, as usual, it didn't work. It didn't work properly, at least."

Kakashi frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I'm getting to that part... When I attempted to find Uzumaki Naruto, I was instead directed to a scene of the Hokage. The fourth Hokage. And Uzumaki Kushina."

Kakashi paled and Jiraiya's eyes widened.

"How... Is that possible? The Yondaime is dead... And so is Uzumaki-San," Hiashi asked, narrowing his eyes. Hiruzen held up a hand to stop further interruptions.

"After that, the scene faded, but when I attempted to use it again, I was greeted with the scene of Uchiha Shisui sparring with Hyuuga Hizashi." This time it was Hiashi who reacted by the slight widening of his eyes. "The next scene I came upon though, was one of the Shodai and Nidaime Hokage. In the scene, the Shodai Hokage used his Mokuton, making me believe that the people in these scenes may just be real. This isn't the only thing, though. Recently, there have been sightings of people who should be dead walking among the living. This is just another instance of this."

Mutterings broke out among the gathered.

"How is this possible?"

"We all know that the only Uchiha alive are Itachi and Sasuke. And Uchiha Shisui's eyes were taken by Itachi."

"I-I think I saw someone on the last mission I went on."

"Really? Are you sure it wasn't just your imagination?"

"I thought it was my imagination, too, but after today..."

"Silence!" Everyone quiet ended at the Hokage's command. "I have heard of a Jutsu that revives dead people. This might as well be very dangerous for us; an enemy gathering an attack force. I want everyone to be on their highest alert. Dismissed."

* * *

"Urg... I hate my hair..."

The twelve year-old with platinum blonde hair scowled as he tugged on the slightly spiked strands. His blue eyes glared at his hair which had gotten caught on a branch while he was lunging at his sparring partner; it hurt like a bitch. He had been urged to grow out his hair by his dad so that it reached mid back. The new color, which appeared after the adoption, went quite well with his somewhat aristocratic facial features. He was strikingly handsome, yet had the slight chubbiness that came with being a preteen. It had been a side effect of his new status as the Successor to his dad's place, giving him the same sort of timeless beauty that all immortals possessed.

In his opinion, the length of the hair made him look girly, or, at least, androgynous. Harry called him pretty, but Naruto preferred to think of himself as a younger version of the Yondaime with longer, platinum blonde hair. Unfortunately, he had forgotten to fix it this morning so it was still the bed head it was every morning right after he woke up, full of knots and tangles.

A chuckle floated down from the branches of a tree made of black crystal nearby. Naruto directed his glare towards the immortal perched on the tree. "Your own fault for not taking care of the mess you call hair this morning," the green-eyed man commented.

"This is all your fault and your stupid Blood Adoption thingy! It gave me this hair and it made me look girly and made my intimidation skills horrible! Plus, my hair isn't as bad as that crow's nest you have on your head!" Naruto shot back, sticking out his tongue childishly.

"Hey! I'm offended!" Death pouted, enjoying the banter and taking his chance to tease the other with a smirk. "Don't be mad at the Blood Adoption, Naru-chan! You're very pretty." Naruto's glare intensified. "And it gave you advantages, like magic!" Harry quickly added.

"You know..." A red haired woman cut off Naruto before he could open his mouth to reply, "You kinda look like Minato when he was younger." The blonde child and the blonde man standing next to her both perked up. Kushina grinned evilly. "Cute, girly and totally unreliable!"

"What!?" Father and son both squeaked indignantly. Meanwhile, Uchiha Shisui, Naruto's current sparring partner, and Harry both held back chuckles at the amusing scene.

"Although," Kushina carefully squinted at her son and then at her husband, "Our son does look a lot more masculine than you were at his age..."

"What!?" This time, Minato was alone in the indignant squeaking. Naruto just grinned.

"Must be my influence," Kushina decided with a grin, crossing her arms.

"For shinobi, that might be a good thing," Shisui chipped in, adding in his own opinion, "Your opponents will underestimate you. We are meant to deceive to survive."

"That's the same thing I said when I was trying to cheer Naruto up after he realized he looked cute," Harry commented, swinging his legs and grinning.

"I remember that time... When we were still genin," Kushina's eyes got a glazed look as she dipped into her memories. "Minato was vying for my attention and he and mmph!"

"Oh no, don't talk about that!" Minato exclaimed, clamping a hand over his wife's mouth. "Nothing! Nothing happened! I swear!"

The group peered at the two curiously.

"Oh, I think I heard an embarrassing story of Minato-San from Mikoto-sama once that began the same way... Something about cross dressing," Shisui suddenly perked up, sounding pensive.

Minato gave a resigned groan. "How many people did you tell?" He asked his wife. His wife just removed his hand and grinned, shrugging. "You're all ganging up on me!"

"Hey!" Naruto suddenly cut in, pointing at Harry, "Fix my hair!"

Harry smiled warmly and, with a twitch of his hand, Naruto's hair was silk smooth and free of tangles, though it still resembled Minato's hair with places sticking up. Naruto quickly pulled it free from the branch before both he and Shisui fell into Taijutsu stances again.

"As much as I hate to cut this short, we should really be going back to the main village and meeting with the Hokage," Harry suddenly said, looking up at where the sun was barely visible behind the leaves.

Naruto's face lit up. "We're returning to Konoha?"

"This place is, technically, a part of Konoha, so we are already in Konoha," Harry corrected with a faint smile.

"Yeah, but, we're isolated from the actual village so technically, we're returning to Konoha."

"I still don't understand why you like that village so much..." Harry muttered. "Say goodbye and we'll be off."

Naruto grinned and nodded, bouncing over to his biological parents and giving them each a hug. "Bye, father, mother! I'll see you soon!"

The two hugged back. "Goodbye, son." "Do well in the shinobi ranks! You can kick anyone's ass to hell and back!" "Kushina! Language!" The family of three laughed as the two faded from view.

Naruto turned to Shisui and waved. "See ya, Shisui-nii-san!" Shisui nodded before fading away as well.

"You packed everything?" Harry asked, jumping down from the tree.

Naruto nodded and _Accio_ ed a bag from inside the black crystal structure that was their house with his wand.

Harry nodded approvingly. "You're getting good at silent spell casting, though your control with wandless magic is abysmal as ever most likely." Naruto pouted at him. Harry just smiled and held out an arm, apparating as soon as Naruto took hold.

* * *

The Hokage sighed as he walked out of his office and through the administrative part of the Academy. He really, really needed to stretch his muscles and get away from his paperwork. He wasn't running! No way! He did his work diligently, thank you very much, and he was most certainly _not_ afraid of paperwork! He just felt like getting some fresh air.

He nodded to his secretary as he went, not paying much attention to the people around him. That is, until he heard a familiar sounding name.

"-yes, Naruto would love to become a shinobi so I was also wondering how to sign up for that..."

The Hokage froze in place and then turned towards the source of the voice. There were two... Exotic looking people in kimonos standing there at the counter, apparently applying to become residents of Konoha. The taller one who held a snakehead cane was the one talking and the shorter one...

The Hokage's eyes widened.

It was Naruto.

At first, he didn't realize since this Naruto had platinum blonde hair, but now, looking closely, he could see the resemblance that the youth held to both Minato and Kushina. And if he looked closely enough, he could just about see the three thin whisker-like marks that adorned each cheek of the boy's face. The boy was looking around curiously at everything and then, their eyes met.

The child's smile brightened and he waved.

And that was when Sarutobi was sure that this must be the Naruto they had been looking for.

He decided to go over.

The woman telling the unknown man about how he could apply for Naruto to become a shinobi spotted him and gave a beaming smile, abruptly stopping. This made the unknown man look over curiously as well, his eyes shining like emeralds in the light.

"Good morning, Hokage-sama!"

"Good morning, Tanaka-san," the Hokage greeted the woman, still looking at the duo.

The taller man gave a respectful nod and smile while the child grinned.

"And you must be...?" He directed his question towards the man, smiling warmly.

"Hakuro, Kuroishi Hakuro. This is my son, Kuroishi Naruto, Hokage-sama," the man, Hakuro, introduced with a smile. Sarutobi narrowed his eyes at the man, not feeling any significant chakra in him. He seemed to be a civilian. Naruto on the other hand...

Sarutobi nearly cried with joy when his senses confirmed that, yes, this was the Naruto he had been looking for all along. He curbed that urge though. Instead, he just nodded. "Well, I would like to discuss something's with you, Kuroishi-san... Would you mind coming to my office? I can help you settle in if you want."

"Not at all, Hokage-sama. Come on, Naruto," Hakuro said, beckoning for Naruto to follow as the Hokage led them away.

* * *

After entering the Hokage's office, Harry and Naruto were told to sit down, and so they did. Harry set his cane across his knees, smiling pleasantly. He knew what was going to be said. He wasn't sure why he had conjured a snakehead cane, but for some reason, he felt a bit like Lucius, so he did. He was donned in an elegant dark red kimono-like robe with golden flowery patterns on the hems ( _Go Griffindor, go!_ the childish part of his mind shouted). On the other hand, his charge was wearing an actual kimono. It was turquoise with darker blue and sea-green patterns. Naruto was bouncing excitedly in his seat.

Harry's eyes fell on the mountain of paperwork on the Hokage's desk and he winced in sympathy. He was lucky that he no longer procrastinated or his paperwork would look like that, too.

Then, he felt a wave of energy and recognized it as something to ensure security and secrecy. As soon as he felt it, he tensed in his seat. However, Naruto immediately shouted, "Old man! I'm back!" and Harry had to resist the urge to burst out laughing from the expression on the Hokage's face and the urge to facepalm at Naruto's bluntness.

The Hokage blinked rapidly in shock before smiling warmly at the boy. "So it is you, Naruto. How are you? Where have you been all these years?" He asked.

"Hari-nii-san saved me and took me in! He's really nice and raised me and taught me all sorts of cool stuff!" Naruto told the other excitedly. "I wanna be just like him when I grow up!"

"Hari?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama," this time it was Harry that spoke, "I am a foreigner with a foreign name. I changed it so that it would be easier to pronounce."

"Ah... So you are Naruto's guardian?" The Hokage had a challenging glint in his eye.

"Indeed I am. And I am, in my opinion, a better guardian for Naruto than any other person you can find. I saved him from your... _Villagers_ and took him in, after all." Harry said the word 'villagers' with a sneer on his face. "I have legally adopted him, the files should be wherever you put files like those, and I have used a jutsu to Blood Adopt him. This way, if a blood test is taken, it will come up with my name as the parent and any inherit skills I have will be passed on to him. I have also taken precautions regarding his tenant."

The Hokage stiffened at the last part before he sighed. "I see... I suppose I can only ask that you take good care of him." He sighed again. "So, you both wish to become residents of Konoha?"

Harry nodded. "We will become residents of Konoha if you declare Uzumaki Naruto as no longer existing and allow Kuroishi Naruto to exist without ties to his previous identity. Also, I wish to buy the Forest of Death from you."

The Hokage got a slightly bewildered look on his face. "I guess that is acceptable... Though you will be watched for a period of time to make sure you have no ill will towards our village and also interrogated. But why do you want to buy the Forest of Death? It's very dangerous and many ninja have died trying to go inside."

Harry smiled so that his eyes curved in a way not unlike Kakashi's. "Who do you think is the cause of that?"

The Hokage stared. Then he cleared his throat. "Alright then... How do you plan on paying for such a large plot of land, anyways?"

Harry's smile widened further. "I grow crystals."

"..."

* * *

It didn't take long for the meeting to finish. At least it didn't take long after Harry dumped a bunch of rare, priceless stones on the Hokage's desk. The interrogation was quick. All that happened was that a shinobi asked them a whole bunch of questions, had them fill in some paper work, and then a man with a lot of scars, Ibinki or something, said they were good to go. It probably only went so fast because they had the Hokage backing them.

Harry then decided that it would be fun to open a jewelry/weapon shop. He didn't want to exhaust his mortal energy reserves growing precious stones, after all. He needed a source of income and entertainment. Making jewelry would probably be fun... Probably. Although he had to learn how to first. Or, he could just use magic... Oh yeah, he could just use magic.

He bought a relatively large place for his store and the first thing he did was to put runes and seals in the basement so that he and Naruto could travel could travel between the shop and their house freely. After some magic construction that turned the ceiling into black crystal, the walls into marble and the ground into grass, he bought some glass tables, shelves and cabinets and placed a few of his self made weaponry and jewelry on the shelves. He also placed the different kinds of stones and materials out for viewing pleasure. He didn't think that it would have many buyers due to the high prices, which meant he could deal with his own paperwork and overseeing of death whenever his services were required.

 _Perfect_ , Harry thought as he looked around the elegant and high class shop.

* * *

After the shop had been bought, Harry had let Naruto go and explore after giving him some ryo to spend. Of course, Naruto took his chance to find out how the village had changed. Tomorrow, Monday, he would go to the academy to meet his new classmates, so he took his time in exploring.

Walking through the streets, he was glad that his Konoha hadn't changed all that much from before. He ignored the stares he got, but relished in the fact that there were no hostile looks. There were some giggling girls though... A few women even stopped him to comment on how adorable he looked and what not. He was really enjoying himself and even got a bowl of ramen at Ichiraku's; he was really glad that the ramen stand was still where he had remembered it to be.

After he had eaten ramen that afternoon, Naruto hummed a tune as he happily bounced down the streets towards the less occupied areas of Konoha, namely, the Training Areas. That was when he sensed something... Not meant to be so. He paused abruptly and tried to figure out where the bad vibes were coming from. His search led him into a group of rather small trees and to a clearing within the mini forest.

Then he realized what the bad vibes were. Someone was being possessed by vengeful spirits. It was among his inherited abilities to be able to sense un-departed dead, spirits, ghosts and demons.

He could feel it in the air, the oppressive cloud of darkness that was currently possessing an innocent soul. And it wasn't just one spirit, it was hundreds. What were they doing? Why were they doing this? Having so many possess one person was dangerous. It would drive them into insanity. Even one could make someone obsessive...

He slowed down as he neared the clearing, trying to stay hidden from the figure inside. Peeking around the tree, he saw someone throwing kunai at a bunch of targets, training hard. The feeling was coming from that figure. Naruto jumped as the figure suddenly spoke.

"Who's there?"


	3. Friendship

**_AN: Thank you, everyone, for the support you've shown to this rewrite! This chapter is almost the same as the original, with only bits and pieces added in or taken away._**

* * *

 ** _Chapter 2: Friendship_**

* * *

"Who's there? Show yourself!"

Naruto was silent for a moment, unsure of what to do. Usually, when sneaking up on people, he never forgot to use magic to cover his tracks and it was usually done on the battlefield (or pseudo battlefield, since he had only ever sparred, not truly fought), so he would attack immediately if found. However, he never been discovered while in a situation like this.

His thought process was cut off by a thrown kunai and he yelped as he ducked behind his tree, the offending object imbedding itself into the tree behind him. It could've hit him!

Angry, he jumped out from behind the tree. "Teme! Watch where you're throwing those! You nearly hit me!"

The other person - a boy around the same age as him, Naruto realized - merely turned to him and raised an eyebrow, a disinterested look upon his face. His hair was black, sticking up at the back so that it looked like a duck ass. His eyes were black, too, and he was about the same height as Naruto. His facial features, though not as defined as Naruto's, promised that he'd be just as handsome in a few years. He could see the foggy outline of other people - the spirits - surrounding the other boy in a big, translucent, dark mass if he concentrated. There weren't as many spirits as he thought, but they were certainly angry and vengeful enough to make up for their small number.

"Hn. I was aiming past you, not at you, idiot. And if you had gotten hit by that, it means you're barely good enough to be a civilian, never mind a ninja." Naruto growled at the other in anger, eyes darkening to gain a slight purple tinge. "I've never seen you around here before." The boy gave him a once-over. "Who are you?"

"It's impolite to demand a name before introducing yourself," Naruto said, glaring at the boy. The spirits flinched away as a whole, but the boy showed no sign of fear or discomfort at Naruto's anger except for the slight crease of confusion between his brows. Good. That meant that the spirits hadn't gotten _that_ much of a hold on him at all.

"Che... I'm Uchiha Sasuke," Sasuke muttered warily, narrowing his eyes Naruto.

Naruto suddenly beamed and he could tell that Sasuke was surprised by the widening eyes and rapid blinking, mirrored by the spirits which moved around in obvious confusion and discomfort. They were probably the reason the boy was showing so much emotion towards Naruto; he had a feeling that Sasuke was the incredibly cold and stoic to strangers kind. "Well, Sasuke, I'm Kuroishi Naruto, but you can just call me Naruto, yeah?"

"... Right..." Sasuke turned away, "Whatever."

Naruto pouted before bouncing over to join Sasuke, curious. The spirits moved, some trying to come closer while others edged away from the adopted son of Death. "What're you doing?"

"Nothing that concerns you. Go away." Sasuke shot a glare at Naruto and edged away from him slightly, confusion showing again. The spirits' indecision was affecting him.

"That's not nice, teme."

"Whoever said I was nice, dobe?"

"Hey, I'm not a dobe, teme!" Naruto retorted angrily, cheeks puffed out.

Sasuke turned back and smirked. "Prove it."

"Huh?"

He rolled his eyes. "Let's have a competition, dobe. If you can beat me, I won't call you that ever again."

"And if you win?" Naruto's eyes narrowed as he asked.

"You," Sasuke pointed to him, "leave me to train in peace."

"Deal." The mass around Sasuke shifted with discomfort and Naruto contained a smirk. Serves them right for possessing someone, especially a child. "So... We're sparring?"

Sasuke shrugged, and Naruto noticed that this interaction was loosening the hold the spirits had on their host. He grinned inwardly. He had found another way to excoriate the ghosts and he was glad because he could only handle one ghost at a time in a direct exorcism. If he weakened their hold to become nonexistent though... He was pretty sure he could banish them as one.

"Sure. Ninjutsu, genjutsu, anything like that allowed. First one to surrender, lose consciousness or be put in a fatal position loses." He walked across the clearing and got into a Taijutsu stance, smirking with confidence. However, when he saw that Naruto was merely standing there, arms crossed, he frowned. Well, if the dobe wasn't prepared and got hurt it wasn't his fault. With that, he charged.

Naruto made a hand sign quickly as soon as Sasuke moved. He needed to cause a distraction so that he wouldn't be interrupted while getting his weapon ready.

"Kage Bushin no Jutsu!"

Sasuke's eyes widened as, suddenly, there were a whole group of Narutos charging at him. He quickly took out a kunai and threw it, dispelling one of the clones, and then he proceeded to tear down the army with Taijutsu, weaving and punching and kicking. To his surpise, they were solid clones, which cost him when one of the clones managed to land a punch and kick. He quickly regained his footing though.

The clones were relatively weak, especially physically, but a great nuisance that would take quite some time. They also seemed to have very little teamwork skills, though that's what made them hard to handle, too. If they had cooperated, Sasuke could've guessed where they hit next, but the blows were unpredictable, tended to clash and either exposed the clones to attacks, or hit randomly.

After a while, Sasuke managed to dispel all the clones with minimal injury, but quite some effort. It had tired him slightly. Unfortunately, he could no longer see Naruto. The blonde seemed to have completely vanished, but Sasuke knew better. He kept his eyes and ears open. Then there was a sudden movement to his right and the next thing he knew was Naruto's face barely a foot away from colliding into his chest. Then he noticed the weapon. His eyes widened as he jumped away quickly, the blade whistling as it cut through the air and impaled itself into the ground. Naruto quickly yanked the weapon up, shouldering it and grinning as Sasuke wondered about where it had come from.

"So, Sasuke-teme, what do you think of Kokushibyo? Pretty neat, huh?"

The mentioned weapon was truly a piece of art. It was so stunning, that Sasuke temporarily forgot about the spar to look it over. Kokushibyo was a scythe, a stereotypical Death's scythe that lacked the grips that were found on a farming one. It seemed to be completely carved out of black crystal. The handle or snaith was as long as Naruto was tall, looking a bit like a flower's stem rather than a pole with the occasional jagged spike. The blade, on the other hand, was two and a half feet of wickedly sharp black crystal that was slightly see through. A few curved spikes sat upon the other end of the handle. There were blood red markings on both the blade and the handle and the entire weapon seemed to emit a dark, pulsing aura. It certainly did live up to its name.

Sasuke was then snapped out of his stupor by a sharp pain in his chest. He put his hand to the middle and was surprised to see blood on his hand when he pulled it away. He could've sworn he didn't get hit by that thing, but when he looked down, his clothes had a cut in it, the edges of the cut frayed and black. His wound on the other hand seemed just like a normal cut, except that it throbbed painfully and had already stopped bleeding. He was confused, but quickly turned his attention back to Naruto and the fight. He made a mental note to avoid that weapon.

What Sasuke didn't know, however, was that Kokushibyo was deadly because it had a pulsing layer of death-force, the opposite energy to life-force, coating it. Not too much for this spar, otherwise it would cause irreparable damage to everything around it that even Naruto, being Death's son, couldn't avoid.

Sasuke carefully studied his opponent, both unmoving and waiting for the other to make a move first. He seemed to have underestimated the blonde. Moving quickly, Sasuke formed hand seals, not caring that they were in a forest with easily burnt trees.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!"

Flames gushed out from his lips, forming a huge fireball before the strands of fire broke and the fireball rushed towards his opponent. Naruto narrowed his eyes and pulled back his arms before slashing straight through the ball of fire with his scythe, death force forcing the flames to extinguish, before apparating into a tree. Sasuke landed where Naruto was a moment ago, confusion evident when he realized that Naruto had, once again, disappeared.

He gave a frustrated growl as he looked around. Where was Naruto now?

 _Petrificus Totalus_

Suddenly, his entire body stiffened, arms at his sides, and dropped to the ground, immobilized. His eyes widened. He hadn't even heard, felt or saw the attack coming.

Naruto appeared before him and held a Shuriken to his throat, grinning. "I win!" he chirped happily, mentally congratulating himself on the non-verbal spellwork that had slipped past Sasuke's sight. He then jumped up and mentally intoned the counter curse, making sure he held his wand at an angle that Sasuke couldn't see it from.

The downed boy quickly got up as soon as he was released, scowling. "Yes... You win... Huzzah, to you, dobe."

"Hey!" Naruto crossed his arms and glared at Sasuke, "You promised that if I win, you wouldn't call me that anymore."

Sasuke smirked. "I didn't promise it. I said it, but I never promised. Although... I guess, if you don't want me to call you that, I can stop."

Naruto beamed.

"I'll just call you baka instead, eh?"

Naruto glared as Sasuke's smirk widened.

* * *

"Itadakimasu!"

A pair of coal black eyes widened in horrified fascination as the raven haired boy watched his blonde companion eat. He feared for his sanity... And his wallet.

Naruto, oblivious to the incredulous stares he was getting, devoured bowl after bowl of ramen while somehow managing to not get anything on his face or clothes and upholding a conversation with the happy Teuchi-San, proud owner of the ramen stand they were dinning at.

Sasuke had been persuaded (reads forced) to buy the blonde ramen after their match, which he still couldn't believe he lost. Although the sight in front of him was even more unbelievable, believe it or not, than getting beaten by the girly boy in a kimono. He blinked again, making sure that it was real and not just some genjutsu.

It was real.

"I-itadakimasu... " he muttered uneasily as he began to eat his bowl of ramen, too. Just at a considerably slower pace. He'd have to find a way to ditch the blonde and have him pay for his own ramen somehow... Luckily, if he failed to do so, he had his untouched fortune from his family to fall back on. The thought of using that money made his stomach turn. He really did not want to use money he gained from having all of his loved ones killed...

"Sasuke?" Sasuke blinked, looking up into concerned blue orbs. "You alright? You seem depressed," Naruto said, frowning before suddenly beaming again. "Come on! Turn that frown upside-down! We're eating ramen and it's totally awesome. How could you be frowning while eating this? That's like blasphemy, teme!" The blonde ate another mouthful, eliciting a chuckle from Teuchi.

"You should slow down to avoid chocking, baka."

Naruto looked up in the middle of a mouthful. "I'm fi-" he began before suddenly coughing. Startled, Sasuke hit Naruto on the back a few times, not wanting to stand by and watch someone choking to death. The blonde's coughs died down and he sighed.

"I told you so."

Naruto pouted and just continued eating, but he noticed the small smile that curled at Sasuke's lips and internally cheered. Sasuke would get better in no time.

"Eh? Naru-chan? You're gorging on ramen again?"

The two boys looked up at the sound of another's voice. Sasuke's eyes widened as Naruto gave a high-pitched whine of 'daaaad!' and pouted slightly. The man that had just walked in was the most regal, beautiful person that Sasuke had ever seen. He didn't see much of a similarity between the man and Naruto, but he could certainly understand that they were related. Naruto had light hair and blue eyes, while the man had dark hair and green eyes. They both looked ethereal, unearthly, though the older man more so than Naruto.

"You rarely ever let me eat ramen! Don't complain about me taking this chance to indulge!" Naruto said, pouting.

"I never let you eat it because you always eat too much at once, Naruto," the man said. Naruto stuck his tongue out childishly. The man seemed to suddenly notice Sasuke, who was openly staring at him. The man smiled. "Who's your friend, Naruto?"

"Ah!" Naruto beamed at Sasuke, pausing in his meal to introduce the two to each other excitedly. "Dad, this is Uchiha Sasuke, Sasuke, this is my dad!"

"Hello there, Sasuke-kun," the man said, smiling pleasantly at Sasuke. "It's good to see that you have a new friend already, Naruto. I'm Kuroishi Hakuro, Naruto's dad. It's nice to meet you, Sasuke-kun." The man, Kuroishi, took a seat next to Naruto.

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Kuroishi-san," Sasuke replied politely, watching as the man inclined his head and ordered a bowl of miso ramen.

"So, what have you two been up to then?"

"We had a spar, dad, and I won!" Naruto chirped, making Sasuke sigh as he thought back to his defeat. Naruto patted Sasuke on the back. "Don't worry, teme, I've had some of the best teachers in ninjutsu, taijutsu and fuinjutsu. Plus, dad taught me a lot, too. That last attack is part of the bloodline of ours."

Sasuke looked at the other curiously and then looked at Kuroishi. The two seemed much too delicate to be ninja, yet... It made sense since shinobi were meant to deceive. "So you're both shinobi?" He narrowed his eyes slightly at Naruto. "How come I've never seen you before?"

"Well, actually, dad isn't a shinobi. I'm the only one. I'm joining the academy as of tomorrow. We've only recently become citizens of Konoha and I learned all that stuff because we had to be able to protect ourselves while traveling. We didn't really like hiring shinobi even though we had the money to do so," Naruto explained while simultaneously digging in to his ramen. Kuroishi ate his own ramen at a much more subdued pace and didn't seem to have the skill to carry conversation while eating. "After all, it takes away that sense of adventure from exploring on our own!"

"Oh, so, Kuroishi-San is a civilian then?" Sasuke looked up at the older man who smiled back at him.

"Yup. We've decided to settle down here and I have no skills that can put me up to the same level as a ninja, unfortunately. So, instead, I opened up a weapon and jewelry shop."

"You're selling jewelry and weaponry together?" Sasuke frowned slightly at the weird combination.

"Precious stones, actually," Naruto corrected, "We hoard them and have tons of rare and precious materials to make weaponry and jewelry with. Plus, our bloodline allows us to enchant them, for a lack of a better word. Make them unbreakable, forever sharp, chakra draining and stuff like that. My dad made Kokushibyo; he's awesome!" Naruto grinned widely and Kuroishi chuckled, but didn't comment.

"Wow!" Sasuke muttered, looking at the civilian in a new light.

"I know right? Dad is just awesome!"

"So, Sasuke-kun," Kuroishi spoke up, having already finished his bowl of ramen (how did he eat so quickly?). "You're aspiring to be a ninja then?"

"Yeah. The Uchiha clan has always been a ninja clan..." Sasuke gave a sad smile.

"Ah... I'm sure you'll make a great ninja. You'll make your family proud."

"Maybe..." Sasuke muttered, stirring his ramen around in the bowl.

"Ne, Sasuke, you're my friend right?" Naruto suddenly asked after a period of silence, looking up at Sasuke with wide curious eyes.

Sasuke blinked at the blonde and shrugged. "I guess," he replied, watching a wide grin spread across Naruto's face.

"Hey, dad, since Sasuke's my friend, he can stay at our house, right?" The blonde asked, making puppy eyes up at his dad. Kuroishi just smiled and nodded.

"Of course he can."

"Teme, why don't you stay at my house? It's awesome, it really is! Since you're my only friend, you have to show me round tomorrow. It's your job to make sure I don't get lost, Sasuke!" Naruto said excitedly, grinning at Sasuke. Sasuke blinked rapidly, surprised at the offer.

"I don't want to impose..."

"Nonsense. You're welcome at our house," Kuroishi spoke up, "Naruto needs a friend o keep him company anyways. He's been alone for quite some time without any friends the same age. We would really appreciate it if you came over."

"Pleeeease, Sasuke-teme? You're my first friend here!" Naruto whined, making puppy eyes at his newfound friend.

Slightly baffled at the turn of events, Sasuke merely nodded. He didn't understand how the pair could trust him enough to allow him into their house and he wasn't sure why Naruto had thought of him as a friend so quickly. What he did know, was that the thought of being friends with the blonde made his heart lighter. He quirked a smile as Naruto whooped, excited at the thought of having a friend stay over, and completely forgot his ramen in favor of babbling about how awesome the sleepover was going to be.

"Eat your ramen, baka."


	4. The Academy

**_Chapter 3: The Academy_**

* * *

It was a bright and sunny morning that Sasuke and Naruto awoke to the next day, not that they could tell as the trees of the Forest of Death blocked out most of the sunlight. However, the scarce sunlight was enough to wake Naruto as he was used to it. Stretching, Naruto kicked off the silky covers of the bed and hopped off, already wide awake. He was excited. Today was his first day at the Academy! The next step to becoming the best shinobi ever!

The spirits were dormant while Sasuke slept and Naruto poked the other in the cheek. Sasuke grumbled, but didn't wake. Naruto took this chance to fling a few low-grade exorcism and purification spells at the sleeping boy. He breathed a sigh of relief as the suffocating presence lessened. It didn't go away though and Naruto had yet to master the more powerful excorcism spells and he didn't want to do a ritual on his unknowing friend. He would just have to weaken them slowly.

"Rise and shine, Sasuke!" Naruto shouted, turning to face his friend who had come over for a sleepover. Said friend grumbled and threw a cushion at Naruto, which was dodged, and pulled the covers over his head.

Naruto grinned as he remembered Sasuke's reaction to his home yesterday while dressing.

 _"Wait a second. Where are we going? I thought we were going back to your house, baka," a confused Sasuke said as he trailed on behind Hari. They were heading towards the Training Grounds and not the residential areas which was probably why Sasuke was baffled._

 _Naruto grinned. "You'll see, teme. You'll see," he merely said. Sasuke shifted slightly, seeming uncomfortable._

 _After a while, they arrived at their destination, The Forest of Death. Naruto was smiling broadly while Sasuke seemed highly unnerved by the Forest. "I thought we were going back to your house..." He said in a rather small voice._

 _Naruto turned to smile at him. "Our house is in there," he pointed at the trees as his father got out a set of keys and unlocked the gate._

 _A low growl came out of the dark space between two trees as they walked into the area, Hari locking the iron gate behind them. Sasuke instinctively fell into a crouch, prepared to fight whatever had made the menacing sound. Naruto felt the urge to laugh bubble inside him as Sasuke made a futile attempt to hide the fear he felt._

 _"Aren't you scared? Who knows what could be in here! And your dad just locked us in. What the hell? You probably haven't heard the stories about those monsters that even jounin can't face which live in here! We're barely genin and your dad's a civilian!" The raven rambled on as Naruto bit his lip to keep from laughing._

 _Suddenly, an enormous black wolf burst out from the foilage, making Sasuke jump back and take out a kunai, eyeing the creature with wide, fearful eyes. Naruto couldn't hold in his laughter anymore and began to giggle._

 _"Hey, Padfoot," Hari greeted the large wolf, earning an incredulous stare from Sasuke, and rubbed the spot behind the terrifying wolf's ears. Padfoot barked and thumped his tail on the ground as he melted under Hakuro's ministrations. "Care to give us a ride?" The wolf barked in agreement and lay down so that Hari could climb on._

 _"Come on, Sasuke!" Naruto quickly jumped onto Padfoot's back settling behind his dad and trying hard not to laugh in the face of his friend's fear. Sasuke was raised on the stories about the evil monsters and demons that lurked within the Forest of Death after all and Padfoot was a rather intimidating sight..._

 _Being around the size of a large elephant or perhaps a small mammoth, the black canine towered over the young raven haired shinobi even while lying down. His eyes were a demonic red that seemed to glow faintly and his teeth were visible, being too long to keep inside his mouth. The shaggy black fur did nothing to hide the curved claws on Padfoot's paws and his tail made loud thumping sounds when it hit the ground, bringing up small clouds of dust._

 _Visibly swallowing his fear, Sasuke jumped onto the large canine's back and sat behind Naruto, cautious._

 _"Off we go then, Padfoot!" The dog yipped happily and sprang up, almost dislodging Sasuke, before bounding off into the woods at high speeds that could rival most jonin._

 _It wasn't long before they arrived at the dome of black crystal that acted as a wall around the blonde shinobi-to-be's house. Instead of stopping, they rode right through it, elicting a startled shout from their guest, before stopping in front of the house._

 _"What the hell?" Sasuke muttered as they dismounted, looking up at the large, black building and black crystal trees. Everything was made from what seemed to be crystal. The garden, the building, the gates, some of the trees, but not the grass though. Multi colored flowers carved from crystal adorned the lawns and translucent pale green vines crept up the side of the building. There were a few actual plants mixed in, but most of the plants inside the black crystal dome were inside the house. Naruto smiled sadly. His dad really loved plants, but due to his own presence, there was a lot more death force than life force surrounding his house. If there were too many plants, they'd use up the life force and die, so they had to substitute the garden for one made from crystal. The plants in the house were a housewarming gift from Life. "This is... amazing..."_

And then, after that, Sasuke had pretty much just stared wide-eyed as Naruto gave him a tour. It was understandable, as the whole place was more or less made of crystal and marble as well as plants and grass, but Naruto still couldn't help but think that Sasuke's wide-eyed wonder was hilarious.

Naruto grinned as he bounced off into the bathroom, filling up a bucket of cold water after doing his morning business. Well, if Sasuke wouldn't get up, it would be Naruto's job to wake him.

"Sasuke! Rise and... Shine!" and with that, Naruto tipped the contents of the bucket over Sasuke's head. The poor, drenched boy immediately jumped up with a yell and kicked back the covers. He looked up and glared at Naruto.

"Dobe..." the raven haired shinobi-to-be growled at his newfound friend.

"Constant vigilance!" Naruto chirped before running out with a "You're gonna be late!"

"Crap!"

* * *

Naruto had already finished his breakfast by the time Sasuke joined the two others down in the kitchen. His hair was still wet from the drenching Naruto gave him, but otherwise he was fine, dressed up in a kimono Naruto had lent him. They hadn't bothered to go to Sasuke's house for his clothing because Sasuke said that he didn't want to trouble Harry by making him wait or run all the way to the Uchiha compound just for clothing.

Sasuke glared at Naruto again, but the blonde ignored him.

"Morning, Sasuke-kun," Hari greeted, sipping some coffee while looking over some papers. He passed Sasuke a plate with toast on and a glass of milk. Sasuke quickly drained the milk. "Have some breakfast. We're just having some toast and milk today. Any more and the two of you will be late. You two have five minutes to get to the academy, you know."

"What!?" Naruto squeaked, "We really are gonna be late!" He grabbed Sasuke's arm and tugged him out of the kitchen, nearly making him choke on his toast. "Dad, come on!" He shouted over his shoulder, pulling Sasuke down to the basement. Hari followed at a more subdued pace.

"What are we doing down here, baka?" Sasuke asked, looking over the runes on the ceiling, walls and floor curiously. "Shouldn't we be rushing outside?"

Naruto just shook his head. "Dad!"

"Coming!" Hari replied, walking into the basement and standing next to the two. He gave his cane a wave. " _Alohomora!_ " There was a click and the door they had come through locked. The room glowed slightly and then there was another click. Hari turned and walked out of the door opposite the one they entered. The two boys followed and blinked as they walked into a large room with a bunch of weapons and jewelry on display. The glass walls at the front of the shop showed the Main Street.

"Whao. That was cool. Where are we?"

"My new shop," Hari said with a grin and Sasuke once again went wide eyed, looking around at everything. Naruto, too, was looking around, amazed at the jewelry and pretty weaponry that was on display.

"Wow..." He breathed as he and Sasuke came upon a full set of armor made of what appeared to be diamond.

Hakuro chuckled. "Three minutes left til class starts."

"Crap!" The two younger boys shouted simultaneously before charging out of the shop and down the road towards the academy.

* * *

Umino Iruka was a talented chunin in charge of an academy class. It was a job mst ninja would be horrified at, but not Iruka. Iruka loved children, even if they were immature brats half the time and would grow up to be killers.

He smiled as he entered the classroom. There was still a minute till class started and most the students were here already. He could see Shikamaru snoring away on his desk as usual, Choji right next to him chomping on chips, Hinata sitting by herself, Kiba having a one sided discussion with Shino, a few girls giggling away by themselves and...

Iruka blinked. Where was Sasuke? Usually, he would be brooding alone in a corner of the room, a bunch of fan girls gossiping and giggling beside him. He was usually the first here, too.

Just as the bell ran, the door burst open to reveal Sasuke Uchiha. He was breathing heavily as if he had just ran a mile and his hair was in a disarray. The oddest thing though, was that he was wearing a kimono. He took a deep breath and nodded once to Iruka before sitting down and glaring around the room to make sure no one took a seat next to him. Iruka sighed and shook his head fondly, even as his ears complained at the sudden excited screaming from the girls.

"Alright, everyone, get back to your seats!" He called out and everyone obeyed, looking at him curiously - sans Shikamaru who's still sleeping. "Today, we'll be getting a new student in our class. When he comes, I want you all to make him feel welcome, okay?"

"Hai!" Sasuke chorused with the class, staring intently at the door, frowning and impatiently tapping his foot. Iruka frowned slightly at the odd behavior.

"He only recently moved to Konoha, but the Sandaime seemed overjoyed to have him and his father pick Konoha to settle down in. Don't overwhelm him," Iruka sent a glare towards some of the girls, "and do your best to help him fit in."

A knock sounded at the door and Mizuki, another chunin, opened the door and led a young blonde boy inside. Iruka nodded towards the other teacher and Mizuki left, leaving the curious-looking blonde child.

"Hello there," Iruka greeted with an encouraging smile, "I'm Iruka Umino. Why don't you come over and introduce yourself?"

"Okay!" He chirped, beaming right back. Such a cute child! "I'm Kuroishi Naruto!" he said to the class, "Yoroshiku!"

"Naruto, why don't you take a seat next to..."

"Ah, Sasuke-teme!" Naruto suddenly interrupted, waving at the usually brooding boy.

Sasuke gave a small smile back. "Hey, dobe."

"Sasuke then," Iruka finished, bewildered by the way they were greeting each other, "seeing that you know each other already."

Naruto nodded happily and skipped up to join Sasuke. That was when Iruka noticed that Naruto was wearing a kimono, like Sasuke was.

"Oh, Naruto, why are you wearing a kimono?" He asked, making Naruto halt in his steps.

The boy turned and gave Iruka the most watery pair of puppy eyes that he had ever seen. "I can't? Sasuke's also wearing one!"

"Uh..." Iruka smiled uneasily at the young boy, "well, I guess you can... But it might hinder your performance... And Sasuke is our best student, so..."

"Nah, I'll be fine! I can fight with a kimono on!" Naruto gave a bright grin again, all signs of tears disappearing, and Iruka sweatdropped. "I even beat Sasuke-teme while wearing one!"

Sasuke just put his head in his hands in response as Naruto sat beside him, grinning, and some of the girls gasped in horror and disbelief.

* * *

"Find a partner, everyone! We're going to go through the basic katas again, today, and then you can spar with each other freely!"

At these words, Sasuke immediately shifted closer to Naruto who had a curious look on his face. The blonde seemed utterly uninterested in the lesson and was turning his head around, looking at the area they were in. It was a bit of grass behind Academy where the students often practiced. There were a few targets for Kunai and Shuriken throwing and some wooden... log-things that looked rather brittle and easy to break. Naruto took a wild guess for them to be the... Things they used to build strength in their punches and kicks and whatnot. A butterfly flew by and distracted the blonde, his eyes going towards the pretty colors of its wings. Butterflies were too fragile to live in a place where death was so prevalent. The only reason the grass around his home was still alive was because grass grew so crazily and weeds were rather strong. Hari always payed special attention to the few living plants to make sure they wouldn't die.

"Naruto?" A head of raven locks and a concerned voice brought him back to the present. Sasuke was frowning at him, head tilted curiously. "You okay? You just spaced out."

"Uh... Yeah, I'm fine!" Naruto grinned, eyes flickering to the butterfly for a second. Sasuke looked over at what had caught Naruto's attention, curious. He looked back, still frowning slightly. "So... What's wrong?" Naruto asked watching as the different pairs went through a set of basic attacks and defenses together.

"Oh, I just wanted to ask if you would be my sparring partner or not," Sasuke gave a small smile, frown clearing up.

"Sure!"

"Naruto-kun!" The two young boys looked around to see their teacher, someone whose name slipped Naruto's mind, coming over to them. "I have been told you have received training while you were traveling," their teacher began, "and, while I am sure your teachers were very capable, I need to know if you think you can keep up with the class or not."

"Don't worry!" Naruto gave a big grin, "I'll do awesomely!"

"I'm sure you will... But I need to test your skill anyways. How about I watch you practice for a while? With..."

"Naruto will spar with me, sensei," Sasuke spoke up, a slight frown on his face. Naruto almost cringed as he felt the spirits stir and lash out at nothing, some emotion from their host setting them off. He would have to hurry it up with the planned excorcisms. He didn't show his thoughts though, Naruto just nodded in agreement instead.

The instructor frowned slightly. "Are you sure? Sasuke-kun is... The strongest in the class..."

"I can take him," Naruto said, nodding furiously again, a bright smile across his features. He could see his friend bristle beside him, indignant on his behalf, and could almost hear his thoughts of _'as if anyone I choose to be friends with would be so weak...'_

Wow, it was creepy how well he knew Sasuke... They had only been friends for a day or two. Maybe it was just because the raven haired boy was so predictable.

The instructor still looked skeptical but nodded for them to continue.

They both got into their positions, Sasuke looking a little annoyed, and Naruto copying whatever he had garnered from watching the other students. They ran through the basics, Sasuke attacking and Naruto defending and then switched roles before Naruto got fed up. Their instructor had walked away after making sure that their stances were perfect.

"This is a load of crap!" Naruto hissed suddenly as he put up an arm to block Sasuke's premeditated attack. "This stuff is too easy, it's boring... These academy katas are so not useful..." He saw Sasuke nod slightly in agreement before a faint smirk appeared on the other boy's face.

Naruto was confused for a second until he noticed Sasuke's stance shifting from defensive to aggressive and he had to suddenly duck to avoid a wide blow from Sasuke. Then, the entire spar shifted and Naruto realized that Sasuke was taking it to another level. He recognized the way Sasuke moved; it was similar to Shisui. Probably a style specifically designed for the Uchiha family...

He brought his arms up to block the kick that followed and then lashed out with a fist. It caught Sasuke in the side, but the boy didn't falter. Naruto was impressed, but Sasuke wasn't as experienced as Shisui was and, therefore, his style had a lot more weaknesses that could be exploited.

Sasuke wasn't fast enough and Uchiha's relied on being able to predict the next move of their opponent's. Unfortunately for Sasuke, that was rather hard without the Sharingan to help him.

What was even more unfortunate for the Uchiha was the fact that Naruto enjoyed being unpredictable. He didn't really stick to one style and incorporated many different katas he had learned to make himself unique.

Sasuke was getting arrogant.

Patiently waiting for an opening, Naruto lashed out as soon as he saw one. Sasuke was not used to fighting in a kimono, it seemed, since he overstepped and nearly tripped.

Naruto wasted no time in pulling the other boy down with his full weight. His knee landed a blow to the Uchiha's stomach, winding him as he fell on top of the blonde. Naruto quickly took advantage of the disoriented state Sasuke was in and was able to turn them around, pinning the younger boy to the ground by straddling his torso and keeping his hands on Sasuke's upper arms.

He grinned down at the rapidly blinking raven haired boy. "You shouldn't underestimate people, Sa-su-ke!" He chirped, getting a glare in response. Naruto had purposefully remained on the defensive when Sasuke attacked, acting as if he were barely keeping up and knowing full well that the other boy would buy it. If Sasuke had been paying more attention, he would've probably won - Naruto wasn't really that good at close combat and hand to hand - but this victory was Naruto's.

"Get off me, idiot," Sasuke grunted out, still glaring. Naruto just grinned and stood up, offering a hand to the downed boy who took it even if he didn't need it. It seemed that Sasuke was sulking about the loss - no, _pouting_ about it. He would definitely deny it if Naruto told him so.

Oh well, he was bound to get over it...

* * *

The mass of spirits that were thinned out just this morning had condensed again, so Sasuke was still agonizing over his loss.

He had been quite proud of the progress he had managed to make in just one day with the spirits, but it seemed that they were becoming active again. If he really couldn't succeed, then he always had the option to ask Hari for help, but he was determined to do this by himself. This was _his_ first living friend and he wanted to be the one to help, even if said friend didn't know about what he was trying to do.

"Hey, Sasuke," Naruto spoke up as they took a break from throwing. He got a grunt in reply. "When's your birthday?" Catching the boy off guard with his question as he hoped he would, Sasuke blinked at him before replying hesitantly.

"July 23. Why?"

Naruto pouted. "Darn. You're older than me..."

"When's yours?"

"January first," Naruto lied. It was now his 'birthday' so that people wouldn't connect him to who he was before.

Sasuke seemed surprised. "New Years?"

"Yup," Naruto said, popping the 'p'.

"Huh, that's cool..."

"Sasuke-kun~!" A voice cut into their conversation and Sasuke scowled with annoyance.

"Fangirls..." He muttered under his breath before his expression became colder, more distant. Naruto blinked at the change before looking back at the two girls that had approached them. One had a head of shockingly pink hair and the other was a blonde like him, if a few shades darker.

"And you must be Naruto-kun!" The pink haired girl asked, looking at him curiously.

"Yup! That's me!" Naruto gave the two a wide grin. "Might I have the pleasure of knowing your names?"

"Well... I'm Sakura Haruno," the pink haired girl said, smiling sweetly at the blonde boy. Naruto found her smile a little fake and disturbing. The girl then glared at the other girl. "And that's Ino-pig!"

The blonde girl glared back. "Shut up, forehead girl!"

Naruto smiled a little more sincerely. That was better. It was more real and much less disturbing. Fan girls were creepy... Shisui had told him enough for him to be wary of all fan girls...

Naruto gave a shudder before focusing once more on the bickering girls.

"...Sasuke-kun would never like you!"

"Hey, calm down!" Naruto cut in, wondering how long he had been in his own world. The two girls paused and looked at him. "I'm pretty sure Sasuke likes girls who are more mature. He wouldn't like it if you were bricking like children, ya know. He'd probably think you were troublesome," Naruto smiled sympathetically when they both looked at him with wide eyes. "Right, Sasuke?"

A grunt was all he got in reply, but the girls took it as an affirmative and immediately blushed, rushing off flustered about losing face in front of their idol.

"Troublesome, huh?" A new voice spoke up as Naruto amusedly watched the two girls. "They are pretty troublesome, aren't they?" Naruto turned his head and saw two people coming up to him. One had brown hair in a ponytail and Naruto remembered seeing him sleeping in class. The other had chubby cheeks and lighter hair and he was munching on some chips.

"Hello," Naruto chirped, "I'm-"

"Kuroishi Naruto, I know. You introduced yourself earlier." Naruto could've sworn he saw the guy sleeping through his introduction... But he grinned anyways and nodded. "I'm Shikamaru and this is Choji." No last names? He wasn't trusted. Smart.

"Well, nice ta meet cha, Shikamaru, Choji!"

"It's nice to meet you, too, Naruto."

"You defeated Sasuke in sparring today, didn't you?" Choji spoke this time in between munches. "That was really awesome. How did you do that?"

Naruto could _feel_ Sasuke beginning to sulk behind him.

Naruto smiled secretively. "I'm just that awesome," he said. "So... Sasuke has a fanclub?"

He heard a quiet groan of distress behind him, but ignored it as Shikamaru smirked slightly. "Yeah. The girl all love cold, mysterious and cool Sasuke-kun~!" Naruto laughed slightly at Shikamaru's high pitched mimicking of Sasuke's fangirls. "They're really troublesome though. Always making so much noise and disturbing my naps." The other added distractedly.

"So, apart from them, are there any other fan clubs?"

"Don't think so." Shikamaru reply, scratching the back of his head absently. "Why the interest?"

"Just curious." Naruto shrugged.

"What are you guys going to do now?" Choji asked, still munching away on his chips.

"Training," Sasuke declared monotonously while Naruto shrugged.

"More training?" Naruto asked incredulously, "Is that all you do? It can't be good for your health. I wanna go look at the weapons dad made. Come on, Sasuke, come with me!" Naruto mustered the biggest pair of puppy eyes he could and Sasuke's defense completely crumbled. He sighed in defeat.

"Fine."

"Yay!" Naruto did an internal victory dance. Those puppy eyes never failed him. He then turned to the other two. "Wanna come?"

Shikamaru and Choji looked at each other. Shikamaru then shrugged. "Why not? We don't have much to do later and I need some new kunai."

Naruto grinned slightly. "I doubt you'll be buying anything..."

Shikamaru and Choji looked at each other in confusion as Naruto skipped off, Sasuke following with a less of a spring in his step.

The walk to the shop hadn't taken long and, soon enough, Naruto had two more sufficiently astounded friends. Oh, and one extra.

"Holy crap!" A voice announced its presence after the four had entered. They turned to the voice.

"Kiba. You followed us here?" Sasuke asked, raising an eyebrow.

The dog lover focused his attention on the other four boys and gave a sheepish smile. Akamaru barked from his perch among the brown spikes. "Well, I was wandering around cause I had some free time and just happened to see you guys entering this new shop here, so I thought I'd follow ya."

Sasuke looked a little skeptical before he smirked. "That's probably the only explaintion that can hold true, since you lack the skill to follow us unnoticed. Especially with that dog of yours."

"Oi!" "Woof!" Came two indignant barks.

"Kokushibyo!" The shout from further inside the shop distracted them and they turned to see a very odd sight. Naruto was cradling a large, lethal looking and down right terrifying scythe and cooing at it. "Did you miss me? I bet you did! I'm sorry, Kokushibyo, but you must understand that I have school. Yes, of course, I'll use you more in the future. That's a good boy..."

This elicited four dropped jaws from his audience as the cooing went on.

Sasuke was the first to pick his jaw off the ground. "I'm going to browse a bit..." he muttered as he walked towards a shelf and started looking over the expensive and high quality weapons. He was careful not to touch as he had the experience with Kokushibyo to know that these weapons were probably dangerous even when not wielded. Eventually, the others also began browsing, Shikamaru looking over the less expensive weapons that were sold in larger quantities such as kunai, Kiba looking at the flashier weapons and Choji looking at armor.

While Naruto was still cooing at his scythe, Kiba had gotten entranced by a beautiful weapon named Trandafir Fatale. It was a weapon composed of two long blades merged in a way that made an x when looked at down the point and had a glowing red hue. The handle was long, placed in the center of one of the blades, the other blade's edge going down in an arc so that you could hold the handle properly. The blades were longer and larger at one end of the handle than the other end. The weapon was a set, it's twin next to it, apparently meant to be used in pairs. Kiba slowly reached out to touch the blades, but a voice stopped him.

"Careful about my weapons. Trandafir and Fatale are poisonous and can kill at the slightest touch."

Kiba quickly withdrew his hand and looked at the weird weapon, slightly horrified.

"Oh, hey, dad!" Naruto chirped and the others turned to look at the newcomer.

After a moment of staring, Kiba sufficiently summed up their thoughts. "He's a _guy_?" Then he blushed slightly. He hadn't meant to say that out loud... The man just smiled, not seeming the least bit offended.

"So, these are your friends, Naruto?"

"Yup! That's right! Dad, this Shikamaru, Choji, and Kiba. You already know Sasuke, of course," the boy chirped cheerfully, motioning his scythe in the direction of whoever he was talking about. "Guys, this is my dad, Kuroishi Hakuro!"

"Hello, Kuroishi-San," they all greeted.

Hari gave them a nod. "Carry on browsing. I don't mind. But, I'm pretty sure none of you are able to afford anything here with mere pocket money, unfortunately. I can enchant your weapons for you though. I'll even do it for free, since you're Naruto's friends."

"Wow, really?" Kiba exclaimed. "Thanks! Wait, what do you mean by enchant?"

"Dad's a seal master, sort of. He can carve runes, which are like seals, onto weapons that make weapons untreatable or forever-sharp. He can even make them return to you are usage! It's all a part of our bloodline," Naruto happily explained.

"That's amazing," Shikamaru commented seriously.

It wasn't long before they were all gathered around Hari's work desk and watching him use what appeared to be a wooden stick to carve odd-looking characters into the blades of their kunai and shuriken.

"This looks really, really cool!" Kiba exclaimed, admiring his shiny, newly unbreakable, forever-sharp, forever-clean and unstealable kunai. He looked towards Trandafir and Fatale again. "Hey, Kuroishi-San? How much are those two?" He pointed at the aforementioned weapons.

"20,000,000 ryo for the set."

Naruto snickered as his new friends spent the rest of the day with their mouths agape in disbelief.


	5. Demons

**_AN: Hey, a flame! Cool. This must mean my story is on the spectrum of Awesome._**

 ** _Though, I'd prefer it if you wouldn't spread your stupidity around, guest. If you'll kindly read my profile, you'll realize that I am, in fact, asexual. I realize homophobia cause people to become antagonistic, irrational and violent, however, I do not see that as an excuse to butt into things that are none of your business, like my sexuality. Jumping to conclusions is a sign of volitile tempers and your words can be taken as a evidence of a premeditated murder attempt. In other words, you've broken the law._**

 ** _You also really need a psych eval! You may be crazy if you read homosexuality into stories and freak out. You have, in your own words, a "disturbed and fucked up mind," since making everyone gay equals to having one of those in your mind. If you're reading this supposed 'gayness' into the characters I'm portraying, then obviously something is wrong with you. I don't really care, but your existence is rather annoying... in the same way gum on my shoe is!_**

 ** _Alright, rant over. I was mean, I don't care if I was mean. Actually, I kinda like being mean. I'll have to try it again sometime. As for some of the other questions posed..._**

 ** _I am making Harry asexual and aromantic. He's Death, man. He doesn't even feel those urges. He can still comment on and notice another's physical appeal and have sex, but he's not going to be engaging in intercourse. Naruto is going to be Pansexual and Panromantic, with ItaNaru endgame. Sasuke is Heterosexual but Bi-curious and Demiromamantic. He migt feel some romantic attraction towards Naruto, but he's not physically attracted to him and he also wants to restore his clan so... Yeah. Itachi is Bisexual and Demiromantic, and Kurama is... whatever foxes are. So... Pansexual and Aromantic (as most animals are, since they really don't care who they get it on with. Did you know that whales engage in anal, oral and blowhole sex? I didn't, until a couple weeks ago...)? IDK._**

 ** _Romance isn't going to be so big, but this is just so you all know. Romance isn't going to happen very soon either. They're twelve, and while the age of sexual consent might be 13 in Japan, they are no way mature enough to think about actual romance. Though if they can kill at twelve, they can have intercourse at twelve, it's not like this is going to be graphic, anyways._**

 ** _Harry is not going to become a ninja. He is neither attached to Konoha nor motivated. He doesn't care about people except children and he doesn't need the money. The only reason he's in Konoha is because of Naruto.  
_**

 ** _Also, the results of the poll was 'Hell no!' so no alternate version. And the locking/unlocking thing... When Harry unlocks one door, the other locks automatically so the entire thing is controlled by just Alohomora._**

* * *

 ** _Chapter 4: Demons_**

* * *

Hatake Kakashi was one that wasn't usually caught off guard by anything, but this... this he hadn't been expecting at all.

Yesterday, he had been called to the Hokage's office and received what he was sure was the shock of his life.

Dead people? Coming back to life?

He hadn't - couldn't believe it.

But he had wanted to, because his sensei, Minato sensei had been there, alive and well in that crystal ball.

But not in this world.

The sense of loss was overwhelming and guilt crashed down on him again. He had failed his sensei and his sensei's son, poor Naruto. The vision in the crystal ball just made these emotions even more profound compared to before, when they had dulled slightly with time. The vision just made him think of how happy and _alive_ they could have been... If Kakashi had not failed them. He was doing well, dealing with his loss in his own way. He knew he had to go on, he knew he had somewhat recovered and could smile and think of them.

This was like a slap to the face.

He was mortified to feel the sting of tears in his eyes as he gazed at the Memorial.

He couldn't cry now! He was a shinobi. He hadn't cried since... since his sensei died.

"Kakashi!"

Kakashi blinked rapidly, clearing the tears from his eyes, and turned to see an irate Asuma coming towards him in a light jog.

Kakashi smiled, single eye turning into a curve. "Hello, Asuma!" He said cheerfully.

Asuma grunted in return. "The Hokage requests your presence... Again," he said, seemingly irritated by the fact that he was being used as a messenger again.

Kakashi blinked. Two days in a row? It didn't seem as urgent as last time. He then shrugged and waved goodbye before going off to see the Hokage. He hoped it was good news this time...

Kakashi got to the Hokage's office in record time, thanks to his curiosity, and entered through the window.

"Hokage-sama, you called?" he asked, crouching on the windowsill.

The Hokage turned his chair, smoking his pipe, to look at him. Kakashi smiled as an eyebrow twitched on the Hokage's face. The older ninja was about to speak, but was cut of by another voice coming from the other other window. "Hey, sensei, what's up this time?"

Sarutobi glared towards the voice, which turned out to be Jiraiya, crouching on the other windowsill. "You do know there is a door in the office right?"

The two crouching ninja exchanged confused glances and nodded. Sarutobi sighed and gestured for them to come in front of the desk. They obeyed.

"I have news for both of you... It's about Naruto."

* * *

Harry grinned to himself as he sipped his tea, sitting behind the counter in his shop and reading _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_. Business was slow, as he thought it would be, but that was how he liked it. Some of the higher ranking ninja came in and bought his wares and so did some of the lower ranked ones, too. But they mainly bought things like shuriken and kunai or came in to have their weaponry enchanted. Of course, he told them that it was a technique similar to Fuinjutsu, which it was as it was Ancient Runes, and not "enchantment". He also got many orders for his jewelry and protective charms from the richer population.

Usually, he would stay at home until the wards alerted him to a customer, but he had a feeling that he'd be needed today.

The bell jingled, signaling a customer or a window shopper...

Harry looked up.

 _Cyclops-scarecrow_ , was his first thought, _not bad-looking, actually,_ his second.

The man that had just walked in wasn't very tall or short, probably a few cm taller than Harry's 5"9. Having, of all colors, silver hair that looked more untamable than Harry's when he was young, a single eye revealed, the other covered, and a face mask, the man was rather odd.

Hm. Maybe his instincts had told him to stay and wait for this guy. What for though?

Harry pretended to continue to read his book as he watched the man out of the corner of his eye. The man walked around, admiring wares, but Harry could tell that the man's mind was most definitely not on the wares.

Until he paused, coming across the longest sword he had ever seen.

Harry almost chuckled. He knew that quite a few ninja had only come in to observe him, untrusting of his presence, but they always, _always_ managed to get distracted by one of his wares.

Well, at least this guy had good taste. The sword he was admiring was around seven and a half feet long, single edged and very thin. A golden dragon crawled but the blade from the hilt and it's tail was hook-like. He had fondly named the sword Norberta after the dragon Hagrid had bought in his first year at Hogwarts.

Harry decided to make conversation. He could do with the entertainment.

"I see you have taken an interest in Norberta," he said with a sensual hiss, purposefully swaying his hips slightly as he walked over. The man turned to him and Harry lidded his eyes, inwardly laughing at the way the man's eyes widened, uncomfortable with Harry's obvious, but effective attempt at seduction. He tilted his head to the side and gave an innocent smile. "She's a rather... Deadly beast. An entire seven and a half feet in length, the longest sword in the shop. She can even extend and shrink with chakra. Of course, she has the same seals in place as all the other weaponry sold here: unbreakable, will never rust, and with always be in perfect condition to be used at any given moment." Harry gave a coy smile, leaning towards the other man. "If you're looking to buy her though, that'll be 2,340,000 Yen." Suddenly, his mouth turned into a happy grin and he bounced back to his counter. "So, you buying? Or just window shopping?" Harry suppressed a laugh at the expression on the man's face that was close to disappointment.

The man shook his head and licked his lips. "Neither. Are you Kuroishi Hakuro?"

"Yeah. That's me," Harry affirmed, raising an eyebrow.

The man shifted, seeming uncomfortable, before composing himself and stalking over to the counter. "How did you get Naruto in your custody?"

"Excuse me?" Harry raised an eyebrow at the rude man, "Can I know who I'm talking to before you start interrogating me?"

The man frowned and straightened up, crossing his arms. He was, apparently, trying to intimidate Harry. "How did you get custody of Naruto?"

Harry let his breath hiss out between his teeth, unimpressed. "Why the hell should I tell you, stranger?"

The man glared harder. "Because I care about him. He's my teacher's child. He's like my own child to me. I want him safe."

"Maybe... I found him half dead in an alleyway and, being the kind person I am, decided to take him in? Or maybe, I was just walking along when I saw a mob chasing an innocent child and attempting to beat him to death without any of you great shinobi coming to help?" Harry sneered. "Or maybe, while he was bleeding to death under the wonderful care of these villagers, these people who claim to care were nowhere in sight?"

The man flinched and visibly deflated. Harry knew that this man was feeling like the lowest scum about now, but he couldn't care less. If he were to venture a guess, this man would probably be Kakashi. Minato did mention him once. But this man wasn't there when those villagers were hurting his successor. And, while Naruto would happily forgive and welcome the man into his life, Harry wasn't one to understand and forgive human mistakes. It had been a long time since he was one, after all. He still hadn't forgiven himself for his own inability to act.

"I-I apologize...I just..."

"Just nothing," Harry interupted with a snort. "You don't have to worry, he's safer with me than he ever was. If you have a problem, go to the Hokage or something. Don't bother me."

"Right, I..." Kakashi took a deep breath. "I do care about Naruto though. I'm going to become his Jonin teacher after he graduates and I promise to keep him safe. I just wanted to see... what kind of person has been in charge of his upbringing." His eyes were wary and less guarded than before and he looked sincere.

Harry was already bored with this though. Human promises that weren't Magical Oaths were nothing to him. "You'll find out how well I've raised him once he becomes your student. Then after that, you can prove how much you care." His tone was dismissive.

Kakashi shifted, awkward, before bowing slightly and Shunshin'ing out.

* * *

It was the end of another normal day at the academy. Today, Sasuke had beaten Naruto in their spars as with every other day after his loss. Sasuke had long since changed out of the somewhat constricting kimono and sworn to never wear one again, so now Naruto had no advantage in Taijutsu matches. Naruto didn't care much. Seeing the smug smile on Sasuke's face was worth it. He really needed to smile more, even if it was arrogantly. They weren't oing to play with their classmates after school today since most of them had something or another to do. So that left Naruto and Sasuke to figure out what to do on their own.

"Hey, Sasuke?"

Sasuke looked over as Naruto waved to the others who were going home.

"Yes, Naruto?" he drawled.

"We're always going to my house afterschool, can we go to your house?" Naruto asked, loking back at Sasuke.

Sasuke opened his mouth but closed it again, hesitaing. His first thought was to refuse because he was a private person, his home was not the best place to take guests and why should they be wasting time going his house when they could train instead? But Naruto was his first friend, his only friend. It wouldn't hurt. He nodded then, making a decision. "Alright then. Come on, baka."

Naruto's indignant shout made him smile, if only slightly, as he walked off in the direction of his home. They were going to one of the wealthier districts of Konoha, Naruto noticed immediately. The change in the quality of shops and the sold items were very telling. However, after a while, the hustle and bustle of the streets died down and they were walking away from the crowd into what felt like a dead zone.

Though they were only a couple of meters away from the nearest shop, it almost felt like a veil of silence had fallen. And that veil got thicker the closer they walked to Sasuke's.

Naruto shivered and he could see Sasuke's mood darken just slightly.

The Uchiha compound was large and sprawling in front of them. The houses were in disrepair and there was a general sense of gloom and doom pervading the area. It was empty and vacant, wind blowing over the dry grass desolately. The gardens and greenery were untended to. They were either full of weeds or dead plants. It made Naruto suddenly feel as if all hope was meaningless.

Yep, definitely haunted.

It wasn't just huanted by the dead though. The place was also plauged by a general sense of discontent, despair and rage. It had been going along for a lot longer than since the deaths of the Uchiha clan. The mass of spirits surrounding Sasuke seemed to convulse and twist in anguish. God, that's creepy.

Sasuke led the way down the main road to a relatively small house next to the main house that was taken good care of. It stood out from the others in the way it was clean and surrounded by plant life. There was a look on Sasuke's face that Naruto didn't like. He needed to break the silence, or else he'd feel like he was suffocating.

"This place gives me the creeps..." Naruto commented. In front of him, his first living friend jerked and paused as if he had forgotten Naruto was there.

"I suppose it might... That man," Sasuke snarled the word even though it was a very nuetral one, "didn't show mercy to anyone. This place is full of demons of the past."

"No wonder you like coming to my house," Naruto noted, looking around. "This place is... too full of memories, right?"

Sasuke closed his eyes and nodded as Naruto walked to stand beside him. Naruto took this as a good sign, confiding in other people. Naruto placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Why don't you give me a tour of your house?" he asked with a smile, trying to lighten the mood by changing the subject. He didn't want to push. Sasuke nodded again, looking somewhat grateful.

"Come on, baka." Naruto pouted as Sasuke unlocked the door and ushered him in.

* * *

Harry sighed for the billionth time as the red haired man next to him continued complaining.

"... I don't even like this place! And I hate those Uchiha as well! They live here, so I hate this place! I tried to destroy it, for kami's sake. Why do I have to become a citizen of this thrice damned place? Me, the great Kyuubi no Yoko, reduced to a human working for the one place I hate! The horror! Working for _humans_!"

It had only been a few hours since Harry had finished the ritual that would give Kurama's consciousness a human body since Kurama had been complaining about being 'stuck in a sewer'. Most of his Chakra was still in Naruto's modified seal, but his consciousness was in his new body. Harry had also managed to convert some of the Kyuubi's Chakra into human Chakra so that Kurama wouldn't be helpless in his new body. Kurama was now human... sort of. His hair was red, long down to midback. He was tall, almost a head taller than Harry, much to Harry's annoyance. He looked feral, with sharper than normal canines and golden eyes with slit pupils. When he smiled, it was terrifying. However, his intimidating visage was ruined by the childish pout on his lips.

"Shut up," Harry snapped, at his breaking point. "You are hundreds of years old, not a five year old brat, Kurama." He was infinitely glad for magic right now because people were starting to stare, and if they heard what Kurama was saying... Well... That would end terribly. "This is for Naruto's protection, as I have already explained."

Kurama, luckily, did shut up at Harry's urging though he continued to pout until they reached the administrative section of the academy.

"Hello," Harry greeted the receptionist who smiled back, recognizing him. "This is one of my adoptive sons, Kurama Kuroishi, who has recently joined me and Naruto in the village. I was wondering if he could apply for citizenship as well."

"Oh, well, last time the Hokage helped you apply, right? So all the paperwork and such was quickly taken care of. Usually, we don't let people apply for citizenship until they have stayed in the village for a month, at least, unless they have relatives who are citizens... Since you are the adoptive father of, Kurama Kuroishi was it?" she smiled at Kurama, but got a glare in return. Harry cuffed the unruly demon about the head for it. "He can apply for citizenship through the usual channels, though it will take a little longer and far more work than last time."

"That's alright," Harry agreed, nodding.

"Well then, most of it's the same. Same forms to fill in, same process... though Ibiki will take longer to interrogate you to make sure you are loyal to the village and everything. Don't worry though, if you aren't a ninja and just a civillian it won't take too long. If you've trained as a ninja, but don't want to continue being one, that's fine, too, but there's some additional paperwork."

Harry looked at Kurama who scowled and mouthed 'There is no way I'm being a civillian. Even if I have to serve this stupid village, I'm not being a civillian.'

"Kurama is a ninja. He was trained for it, though never officially, and he has no ties to any village." Harry informed the receptionist. "He wishes to become part of the shinobi corps."

"Alright then, just fill these in," the receptionist beamed and handed over a thick stack of paperwork, much to Harry's horror.

Harry immediately piled them into Kurama's arms, who was too shocked to react and reflexively caught them. "Good luck, Kurama," he said sympathetically before quickly fleeing.

As he ran out of the building, he winced at what he believed was Kurama's anguished cry.

 _Sorry, Kurama. Better you than me._

* * *

The inside of Sasuke's house was as clean and well kept as the outside suggested. While nowhere near as magnificent as Naruto's own house, it was cosy and tasteful inside. There were two bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room, a bathroom and a study. It provided a good shelter from the uneasy atmosphere outside.

Sasuke had even served him tea and biscuits.

"Not as fancy, perhaps, as your dad's, but I can't cook so..." Sasuke shrugged, sitting down on the couch in the living room.

"Well," Naruto took a biscuit and nibbled it thoughtfully. "Thank you anyways. Do you live alone?" He winced immediately afterwards. Stupid question.

Sasuke shot him a look that questioned his intelligence. "What do you think? I'm an orphan."

"Yeah..." Naruto chuckled nervously.

They sat, sipping tea, in awkward silence for a while before Naruto became restless.

"Wanna spar?"

"Sure."

Two minutes later found them outside on opposite sides of Sasuke's yard. "Same rules as the first time we sparred?" Sasuke called out.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah! Loser treats winner to their favorite meal for dinner!"

"You're on, baka."

Naruto scowled and ran forwards, taking the offensive. Sasuke was surprised for a moment, since Naruto always started defensively, but quickly recovered to meet him head on. They exchanged physical blows, neither gaining or losing ground. This was only the beginning, so it was best to conserve energy. After a while, Naruto jumped back, flashing through some hand signs. Seeing this, Sasuke also began making hand signs for his own attack.

"Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu!"

Naruto sucked in a breath and then expelled a torrent of water.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!"

Sasuke was only a second slower at expelling a far larger fireball.

While Naruto's technique was faster and had the elemental advantage, it was obvious that it wasn't as powerful or as well mastered as Sasuke's. The two attacks collided, creating steam and cancelling each other out. Using the steam to his advantage, Naruto apparated behind Sasuke and took the chance to unseal Kokushibyo. Sasuke, remembering the last time Naruto had used a diversion, quickly began moving, keeping an ear out for where Naruto could be. The steam quickly disapated, but Sasuke saw that Kokushibyo was out again. He smirked, drawing his own enchanted kunai.

The two weapons clashed as they ran at each other again and Naruto frowned when he realized something odd. Kukoshibyo wasn't eating through the kunai. Kokushibyo was a great weapon because no oridinary weapon could stand up to it. But then he remembered how Harry had enchanted his friends' kunai and shuriken. He scowled. Dang it.

The next time they rushed at each other, Naruto took a chance when Sasuke ducked to vault over the other's head. While Sasuke whirled around immediately, he was unable to stop Naruto from forming the hand signs he did.

"Kage Bushin no Jutsu!"

It was with an annoyed groan that Sasuke faced down an army of Narutos, each with their own Kokushibyo. With a war cry, the army came charging at him. Sasuke smirked. He knew just what to do. Leaping backwards away from the first attack, he formed handseals in midair.

"Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu!"

When Sasuke landed, a volley of small fireballs, with concealed shuriken, sped towards the army, dispelling the majority of the clones. Naruto himself had to duck to avoid them, but used the smoke from the dispelling clones to apparate away again. Sasuke continued mving as soon as he landed, dispelling the rest of the clones.

This time, when he didn't see Naruto, he didn't stay still, instead, he ran forwards, which caused the _Stupefy_ Naruto had aimed at him to miss. Naruto cursed when Sasuke turned and spotted him on top of a small tree. Naruto grinned and waved as Sasuke scowled and released a fireball at him. The fireball was hurriedly cut in half by Kokushibyo, but when Naruto moved to get out of the way from Sasuke's following lunge, his hair got caught in the tree, letting Sasuke win by placing a kunai at his neck.

"Dang," Naruto pouted, rubbing his abused scalp. "I'm always losing recently. I'm so getting a hair cut, by the way."

Sasuke just smirked and stepped back. "You owe me dinner."

* * *

Kurama was not amused.

He had been abandoned by Harry who had fled in fear of paperwork. After having to fill out a ton of paperwork, he was questioned by a tall, scarred guy called Ibiki. The man was really serious, but not intimidating to Kurama. He had just gotten out of a most traumatizing confrontation with paperwork, after all. There was nothing that could scare him now. It took ages and, when Kurama began to snap, Ibiki had scowled and gotten a mindwalker to take a stroll through his mind. That gave him a headache, but eventually led to his release. Then, Kurama had to go and look for Naruto as the brat was not at the academy or at home as he had originally thought. He wasn't even at a ramen place.

When he eventually found Naruto, he was surprised to find the other eating in an upscale restraurant with...

"Uchiha..." Kurama growled under his breath as he approached the table where Naruto was cautiously trying healthy-looking dishes with plenty of tomatoes. He took a deep breath to not let his irritation with the Uchiha clan overwhelm him. "Brat, I've been looking for you all over! Where were you?"

Naruto blinked up at him in confusion for a moment before realizing who he was. "Oh, Kurama, why?"

"Why else? Hakuro told me to make sure you were okay," Kurama grumbled, glancing at Naruto's dark-haired companion. Said companion eyed Kurama back suspiciously.

Kurama then realized that something was very, very wrong with Naruto's appearance. Hair. Where did his hair go? His eyes grew wide and horrified. "What in kami's name happened to your hair?"

"Oh this? I got a haircut," Naruto, grinning, ran a hand through his now shoulder-length hair. It made him look even more like that bastard Minato. "By the way, this is Kurama, my adoptive brother," Naruto introduced, ignoring Kurama's horrified gaping. "Kurama, this is Sasuke Uchiha."

"I know, Uchiha, pleasure really," Kurama muttered before Sasuke could say a word. "The old man's going to kill you." Sasuke scowled at being ignored and Naruto rolled his eyes.

"You're overreacting. Now sit down and eat." With a tug, Naruto forced Kurama into a seat beside him and, though the rest of his meal was filled with glares (Kurama) and suspicious glances (Sasuke), he happily tried every dish in sight.


	6. Graduation

**_AN: No change in this chapter. This is just a mix of Graduation and The Bell Test. But, still, please R &R! Thanks for the support!_**

 ** _BTW, since some of you are confused as to why Kurama is a ninja and Harry is not..._**

 ** _Harry has duties as Death, and therefore cannot commit his time to being a ninja. He also cannot meddle too much directly. And though he did open up a shop, people rarely actually buy things and he can also hire others to watch over it. Opening a shop is different from becoming a ninja because he can stay a civillian and, as such, not get too involved and also have time for his duties as Death. Yes, he did adopt Naruto which could be seen as getting very, very involved, but ultimately, Naruto becomes his heir, so he is technically not meddling in the affairs of others. Chakra is technically an energy of life and living things, so as Death, Harry doesn't have Chakra. He can mask that and project a feeling of having civillian level Chakra to sensors and stuff, but he can't use Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, or Fuinjutsu. He's never trained for Taijutsu either. He cares very little for the affairs of humans and has a personal hatred for some of the humans in Konoha._**

 ** _Kurama is an incredibly old fox who has been trapped in the stomaches of other peopkle for who knows how long. While he might not like Konoha, that's because he doesn't like humans in general, especially Uchiha, but they're mostly dead. Hating a place means you still care about what appens to it, which is very different from Harry's indifference. He had nothing to do but sleep before, so becoming a ninja is exciting to him, regardless of the fact that he has to work for Konoha. He doesn't want to destroy it, but he doesn't particularly care what happens to it. However, Harry wants Kurama to look after Naruto (which wasn't explicitly mentioned) and become a ninja to do so. This way, so long as Kurama is present, Harry doesn't have to reveal himself and his abilities. Kurama is also not limited in the ways he can get involved with the happenings around him, so to speak._**

 ** _Does that clarify things?_**

 ** _Oh, and last chapter Harry prevented the 'mindwalker' from seeing the truth behind Kurama._**

* * *

 ** _Chapter 5: Graduation_**

* * *

A few months later, Kakashi was crouching on the ceiling of a room of graduate Genins, under a Genjutsu that made him invisible. The reason for that, was to watch his future students. He will admit that, yes, he did stalk Naruto for a while, unwilling to wait until he became a teacher and, yes, he stayed away from Naruto's adoptive father even though he really should be trying to get along with the man. Now, Kakashi was by no means a man that ran from his problems, but this was different. This was Naruto. Naruto who he had failed. Naruto who he had thought he had lost.

Umino Iruka was the one announcing the Genin teams. Meanwhile, he was rather pleased to note that the two he would definitely be teaching were sitting together, both eagerly waiting for their names to be announced. Or, at least, Naruto was eager and Sasuke had a nonchalant mask which hid an expression saying 'I will kill you if you don't put me with Naruto'. The last member of his team was sitting a little distance away, dreamy eyed as she watched Sasuke. Oh great, a fangirl. At least she was a fangirl with potential.

"Kuroishi Naruto."

Naruto perked up, his eyes shining as he listened.

"Haruno Sakura."

Both Naruto and Sakura narrowed their eyes, seemingly uncaring of each other in favor of their third teammate. Sasuke scowled.

"Uchiha Sasuke."

Their teacher had barely finished saying the young Uchiha's name before he was drowned out by two victorious cheers from Naruto and Sakura. The two then proceeded to glare slightly at one another before Sakura moved over to join the two boys. Sasuke looked like he didn't know whether to cheer in triumph or to groan in dismay. He settled for a sigh as Sakura took the seat next to him. Many other girls in the class glared at Sakura enviously.

Now to wait here for an hour or two.

* * *

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura had been waiting over an hour for their elusive teacher and they were getting really, really bored. Sakura had long since run out of things to talk about and Naruto and long since run out of things to continue the conversation with. Now, Sasuke was dozing, Naruto was playing around with Kokushibyo and Saskura was staying far away from the deadly scythe while staring out of the window.

Naruto sighed as he twirled his scythe, deciding to go through katas with it instead. If he broke anything, it was totally his teacher's fault for leaving them "unsupervised".

Slashing through the air, he twirled around and cut open a desk. Grinning, he began humming as he went through his katas with the scythe, uncaring of the wooden desks and chairs that were rotting as they came in close quarters with Kokushibyo's blade.

Suddenly, the door opened and Naruto screeched to a halt, blade stopping barely an inch away from the nose of the newcomer. He quickly took the blade away from the smiling man's face, wondering how he could smile when nearly being eaten away by a scythe. Not that he knew that the blade would "eat" him.

"Team Seven?" The man inquired, acting as if nothing happened. He looked them over with a bored expression. "My first impression is that I don't like you. Come to the roof." And then he disappeared.

There was a period of silence as Naruto blinked rapidly at the abrupt arrival and disappearance of their teacher and the other two stared. "What a nice fellow..." he muttered, sealing away his scythe and walking to the window before jumping out the window.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and walked towards the door, Sakura following.

* * *

When Sakura and Sasuke got to the roof, Naruto and their new teacher were already waiting for them. Naruto waved for them to take a seat next to him. Their new teacher looked up from the book he was reading and smiled as they sat down. He put away the book. "Alright then, let's introduce yourselves. State your name, likes, dislikes, hobbies and dreams. I'll go first. Hatake Kakashi. Likes... Eh. Dislikes... That's none of your bussiness. Hobbies... Neither is that. And dreams... Hehehe... Okay your turn." He gestured towards Naruto who replied after staring at their teacher incredulously for a moment.

"I'm Kuroishi Naruto. I like ramen and Hari and Padfoot. I hate vegetables, and people who are judgmental. Hobbies, er, training I guess and cooking. My dream... Is to become the Hokage and the best ninja ever!" Naruto's eyes sparkled with life and enthusiasm as he spoke, grinning slightly.

Sasuke sighed before speaking up. "Sasuke Uchiha. There isn't much that I like apart from tomatoes. I hate... Fangirls and a lot of other things. I train often, but don't really have any hobbies. My dream... Is to revive my clan and... Kill a certain someone." There was a dark gleam in Sasuke's eyes that Naruto didn't like. He didn't like his hard work being undone either.

Sakura then spoke. "I'm Haruno Sakura. I like..." She smiled dreamily and looked towards Sasuke, "I dislike... Ino-pig!" She suddenly changed as fire lit in her eyes and a scowl settled on her face. "My hobbies... My dreams..." For both of these she glanced shyly at Sasuke and giggled. Naruto shuddered. He was glad that he wasn't Sasuke.

"Alright," their teacher got their attention again, "Tomorrow, we'll meet at Training Ground Three at exactly seven am. There, you will then go through your graduating test. I advise you to not eat as having a full stomach may not be advantageous."

"Wait a second? What do you mean by graduating test? We're already Genins!" Naruto complained.

"It's a test to see if you deserve your position as Genin or not. Good luck." And then he was gone again in a swirl of leaves.

"Again," Naruto muttered, "What a nice fellow." He pouted as he jumped from the roof.

* * *

It was a peaceful, calm day in the Forest of Death. Minato really hadn't seen anything like it until Death came to the place. The animals were all lounging around, taking a afternoon naps and not trying to kill each other or him. He sat in front of a table with a shogi board, playing shogi with Death to kill off the boredom that would be present before Naruto arrived home.

"Hey, father. Did you know that your student, who's now my teacher, is an asshole?" Was the first thing Minato heard from his son when the boy walked through the door. He choked on the tea Death had given him while they had been discussing current events. Death quirked a smile and made his move, putting Minato in a precarious situation. "He's a real bitch, you know," Where the hell did his innocent little Naruto learn such words? And when? Minato eyed the smiling form of Death suspiciously as Naruto talked. "Saying 'My first impression of you is that I don't like you' And crap like that." Minato coughed harshly, and Naruto finally noticed. He went over and patted Minato's back, concerned. "You okay, father?" Minato continued coughing, shaking his head. "What's wrong with him, dad?"

"Minato will be fine," Death reassured, sipping his own tea, "He's just realized something life, or should I say death, changing. He'll get over it." Naruto blinked at the amused smile on Death's face before shrugging.

"I have to get to training ground three at, what, seven in the morning tomorrow and not eat breakfast apparently. Sooooo mean..." Naruto huffed. "I need ramen."

* * *

It was a bright morning. The birds were chirping, the sun was shining and everything else was as cliche as a perfect morning could get. And reflected in the surface of a small puddle was the scowling face of a certain dark haired Genin-to-be.

He had been waiting here for forever. Or, at least, it felt like forever... The worst part of waiting though, was the fact that his new friend was not here. Instead, there was an annoyingly persistent fangirl.

He hated fangirls.

They were weak, annoying, childish, giggly and, worst of all, weak.

So, he ignored the chattering girl at his side as he waited.

Where was his teacher and his friend anyways? They had been waiting here for at least an hour by now and Sasuke was getting hungry. he hadn't eaten anything, just as his teacher had told him. And, judging by the way his teammate was behaving, she was hungry, too.

"Sasuke! Sakura!" A voice called, getting their attention. It was none other than Naruto, a stupid grin on his face, waving as he ran over. Yet it didn't look inelegant at all.

"Naruto!" Sasuke called out back, but he wouldn't do something as plebeian as waving his arms and/or hands about like Naruto was doing. The most he'd do is put a hand up in greeting, but there was no need for that. "What took you so long?"

Naruto's grin widened. "Nothing."

"Then why are you late?" Sakura took the words right out of Sasuke's mouth, making the boy scowl.

"A little birdie told me that it was normal for Kakashi-sensei to arrive an hour or two post the time he mentioned," Naruto answered, tilting his head in an innocent gesture.

"Seriously!? How unprofessional!" Sakura exclaimed.

"So we've been waiting here for nothing then... Che, what a waste of time..." Sasuke mumbled, scowling.

"Oh, cheer up! I'm sure he'll be here soon!" Naruto chirped, smiling.

Right on cue, there was a puff of smoke and Kakashi appeared, rubbing the back of his head and looking sheepish. "Ah... Sorry about that. I had to help an old lady on my way here..."

"For an hour and a half?" Sakura asked incredulously.

"... And then I got lost on the road of life."

Sasuke's eye twitched. "Che."

"Anyways!" Kakashi clapped his hands together and took out two bells. "Your test." At once, all three Genin-to-be's lost the casual attitude, becoming serious. "Here are two bells. You have to try and take them from me. If you get a bell, then you pass! If you don't, it's back to the Academy for you! Oh, and no lunch either, you'll be tied up forced to watch the rest of us eat... You have until noon!" He took out a timer and put it on a nearby log, hanging the bells from his belt loop.

Sakura glared, suddenly feeling very hungry, if the way she clutched her stomach was any indication, and Sasuke looked like he wanted to blow Kakashi's head off. Naruto was just happy that he managed to coerce, er, convince his father that it would be a good idea to reveal the secrets of this test to avoid having poor Naruto suffer.

"Wait!" Sakura suddenly exclaimed, "Why are there only two bells?"

"Because only two of you will be passing this test, the one who fails gets sent back and won't have any lunch," Kakashi explained cheerfully, pausing to make sure it sank in. Sasuke and Sakura narrowed their eyes and Naruto bounced a little, grinning. "Come with me with everything you've got. You can use any weapon and any skill you've learnt. You won't succeed unless you come at me with the intent to kill."

"Isn't that a little... dangerous?" Sakura asked apprehensively.

"He'll be fine, Sakura," Naruto interrupted before his teacher could reply, cushioning his hands behind his head casually, "Kakashi-sensei is a Jonin, after all, he can take care of himself. We're just Genin so we won't be able to harm him... much." He gave Sakura a sharp grin.

Kakashi smiled. "That's right. Begin!"

At once, all three Genin-to-be jumped away, into the trees.

Well, two of the three... Naruto stayed, staring at Kakashi, who had began reading his book.

"Kakashi-sensei, do you have a summon?"

Kakashi blinked, surprised at the question, and looked up from the book into the bubbly blonde's shining puppy-eyes. He blinked again. Even though Naruto seem to have changed a lot, Kakashi could spot many similarities between him and his father. The nose, the eyes and the hair style, while longer and lighter in color, still resembled the mess Minato called hair. Naruto also inherited the slightly feminine features that Minato bore, but his were a little more rounded, like Kushina's features. But the rest... He couldn't place. The hair color was almost like the color of the Yamanaka Inoichi's hair and he had no idea where the other worldly look came from... Except that it was like Kuroishi-san's. That was the only similarity the two Kuroishi's shared.

"Yes, I do," he found himself answering, almost automatically. His eyes narrowed. "You are supposed to be figuring out a way to attack and get the bells from me."

Naruto shrugged. "I'm not gonna bother. You're too strong anyways, I'll just leave that to the other two," he said, putting his hands behind his head in a casual way, "Unless, of course, they decide to enlist my help." Naruto gave an easy grin and Kakashi smiled back, his one eye curving. What the other had said was... Interesting. Almost as if he knew...

However, Kakashi was still on guard. Naruto might be trying to distract him. "I thought your goal was to become Hokage. You can't do that without becoming a Genin first, no?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto snorted. "Oh please, as if you'd actually make this the graduation test. Unless you just really, really loathed teaching. No sensei would give us something impossible to do, would they?" He asked, shooting Kakashi a deadpan look. "Plus, all Genin operate in teams of three. It wouldn't make sense to only pass two of us. So, what you're trying to tell us is that we have to work together."

Naruto was much smarter than he seemed. It appeared that the young boy had already caught on. Kakashi's smile widened under his mask. "So then, what do you think this test is about?" He asked, curious as to the young blonde's thoughts.

"Well..." Naruto drawled, twirling some of his hair around a finger. "You obviously seem to be trying to split us up by offering only two bells. Also, the only way we stand a chance is by working together. So, I would guess, that this was some sort of cooperation or teamwork test." He shot a glance in Kakashi's direction. "Am I right?"

"You'll just have to find out at noon, won't you?"

Naruto pouted petulantly. "But why? You should just tell me now, no? I already got it, didn't I?"

"Maybe I'll tell you early if you can get a bell from me," Kakashi offered, thoroughly amused by the blonde's antics. Suddenly, the blonde gave a wide grin and held up a bell. Kakashi blinked, looking down, only to find that one of the bells were missing. Well, damn it. He had gotten so comfortable and relaxed and so _not guilty_ , bantering playfully with his sensei's son, that he had completely let his guard down, something that almost never happened. But even if, Naruto shouldn't have been able to take the bell without him noticing. He was a shinobi, after all. "How did you...?"

Naruto just shrugged, grinning goofily again. "So...?"

"Not telling!" Kakashi smiled, hiding his confusion.

"What!? But I have a bell!"

"Well, then, you pass! But I only said maybe for the second part," Kakashi reminded the other.

"Fine, be that way..." Naruto muttered under his breath, scowling. Then his expression suddenly lightened. "Hey, what's your summon? Can you show me?"

Kakashi blinked at the abrupt change of subject then smiled again. "Maybe later I'll show you my Ninken. When they're needed," he offered.

Naruto sulked further. "I'm going to get ramen..." He muttered and. With that, he ran from the training field before Kakashi could protest. He shrugged, smiling and reminded of Kushina, deciding that he could just get the boy at noon.

* * *

Contrary to what Kakashi believed, Naruto did not go to get ramen. He wasn't really hungry and he had already had a bowl of ramen before coming to the training grounds, and, while he would usually ignore these facts to get his hands on some more delicious ramen, his, Sasuke's and Sakura's futures were on the line here.

So, he decided to go and help the duo that still hadn't gotten a bell yet.

He looked around as he walked out of Kakashi's sight and walked further so that he wouldn't be in range of any of the man's senses.

The streets were crowded today and happy chatter was heard in every corner of Konoha. Naruto felt a smile creep onto his face.

He loved Konoha, he really did. It didn't matter to him that the people there didn't like him before, but Konoha was his home and that was one thing that would never, ever change. He wanted to be something to his village, something to look up to and admire. He wanted the love and recognition from his village. Although Harry was correct in saying that they had mistreated him and probably didn't deserve his love, Harry had also told him that everyone could make human mistakes, everyone could repent.

Although, Naruto got the odd feeling that despite Harry's words, Harry didn't really understand humans nor did he tolerate them as much as he appeared to. He knew that Harry was different, was immortal, though Harry always seemed so human. Perhaps that was why Harry had difficulties accepting these people, even though he tried his best to do so, if only for Naruto's sake. His own mistakes as Death that he had admitted to might have also been a part of that.

Anyhow, Harry no longer bore any homicidal urges towards the people in his village, although he would occasionally sense hostility from his dad whenever they passed certain people that probably had a connection to Naruto in the past. A not very pleasant connection.

So lost was he in his thoughts that he didn't realize the collision course he was on before it was too late.

And he was knocked to the ground by a larger body.

"Are you alright?"

Naruto looked up to see an oddly dressed man extending a hand to him. The man had a long black coat/cloak thing with an insanely high collar - the country of Fire was usually rather warm, after all - and a straw hat that only revealed a pair of dark eyes. Naruto took the hand, grinning sheepishly. This man was odd, to say the least, and Naruto grew steadily suspicious the longer he looked at the man.

"Sorry, wasn't looking where I was going..."

And that was how Naruto ended up completely forgetting about helping his two teammates.

Well, almost.

* * *

Sasuke cursed. Somehow, his brilliant plan of attack was foiled and he ended up stuck in the ground. Just great.

He had seen Naruto go off with his bell and Sasuke didn't want to be left behind.

No matter what, he had to get that bell. He had to become a Genin. He had to get stronger. He couldn't allow Naruto to leave him behind. He couldn't be left behind. He wouldn't allow anyone to just toss him away like that. He was strong and he will only become stronger. He had to beat... _Him_.

Unbeknowest to Sasuke, the cloud of spirits around him, already agitated by the presence of the Master of Death, moved and hovered, shifted and gather, densened and darkened. They had to act, now, no matter whether they were ready to or not. Their time was running out. They had to make Sasuke act.

If Naruto was going to betray him and leave him behind so easily, then what kind of friend was he? Sasuke wanted to kill the traitor, but Naruto held power... He would think this through later though, for now, he had to get out of this hole.

A trace of red gleamed within Sasuke's eyes and closed them, focusing.

And just when he felt like he was succeeding, in what he didn't know, a shriek of terror broke his concentration, scrambling his control, and made his eyes snap open.

Sakura.

God damn it, that stupid, useless girl.

His eyes narrowed. Hate bubbled within him and seared through his chest, fed by an invisible source.

He really, really wanted to rip off someone's head, preferably that idiotic girl's.

* * *

Naruto narrowed his eyes, poking his head around the wall he was hiding behind. His eyes narrowed as he watched the black-clad back move through the crowd. The familiar sensation of the Disillusionment charm trickled over him, helping him blend in. He smirked, he was getting really good at silent casting.

Harry told him that was good, since ninjas were always about stealth and subtlility. Or, at least, they should be. Except that these shinobi had huge, kick ass fights that were loud and destructive around 80 percent of the time and that was not really subtle.

Shooting a Silencing spell at himself for good measure, Naruto leaped up, grabbing onto the roof, and easily pulled himself up. He tailed the suspicious man, watching him closely for any suspicious movements. However, apart from the way he was dressed, nothing about the man's actions suggested he was anything but a traveller. But, his instincts told him that the man still felt off and Naruto trusted his instincts.

So, Naruto continued to tail the man.

First, the man went to a dango shop and bought what seemed like a bazillion sticks of dango. Naruto was pretty sure his eyes bugged out with surprise just about then. The only time he had seen someone do something similar was when he saw that weird snake kunoichi come to a dango shop to eat. She was creepy and tended to smother Naruto in hugs, which he was pretty sure wasn't a motherly gesture at all, whenever she saw him, so Naruto avoided her whenever he could.

The man finished the dango in record time - that was probably the most suspicious thing that had happened the whole day since no one should be able to finish that many dango and not in so little time - and left soon after finishing his green tea that he had ordered alongside the dango.

He had then gone to the market place, occasionally pausing to look at goods before moving on. Then the man travelled down the Main Street for a while before stopping at a random shop and coming out with some cup ramen.

That was when Naruto instantly felt kinship with this man. It only grew when, after what seemed like exploring the streets of Konoha, the man stopped at Ichiraku for a bowl if delicious miso ramen. Curbing the urge to get a bowl of ramen for himself and the urge to instantly trust the man, Naruto reluctantly left, trying to ignore the tempting fragrance of ramen.

Naruto followed the man until he abruptly remembered the test and his plan to help his friends when he heard the chime of a bell, the man slipping from his mind. It was fast approaching noon when he remembered and he scrambled to begin his plan, knowing that another sneak attack would not work on Kakashi.

He never saw the man watching his invisible form leave, nor the way those eyes that were originally black turned blood red.

After all, while it was an unknown in this world, Wizarding magic wasn't completely infallible.

* * *

Sasuke frowned. He was confused. Confusion was an emotion he had become slowly accustomed to feeling after Naruto's arrival. His emotions felt scrambled somehow and he was very much distorted by the sudden absence of rage he had felt when Naruto returned with a plan.

He scowled. They were now looking for Sakura. And Sasuke had hoped they could finally get rid of the girl. She was weak, they didn't need her. But then Naruto explained the test to him and he sulked, realizing that they couldn't pass without her.

Well, he would tolerate her, if only for the friendship between him and Naruto, since the other boy seemed to have gotten attached to the girl, if the frowny face Naruto had showed him when Sasuke suggested they leave her behind was any indication.

Sakura was rather easy to find, her pink dress was very much visible among the trees. Naruto did the talking though, explaining the plan to her. Sakura looked skeptical, but accepted it in the end.

Sasuke held up the bell that Naruto had given him. It was identical to Maruto's in every way. He sighed and tucked the bell into his pocket, getting ready for their plan. Well, it wasn't really much of plan in Sasuke's opinion, but, who was he to argue?

He shot from the trees, flinging out three kunai at Kakashi, which were all blocked, and then putting his hands together and forming hand seals fluidly.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!"

He sent the blazing ball of flame in the direction Kakashi had jumped in, only for it to collide with an identical ball of fire. Sasuke stared and Kakashi managed a smile before he was forced to dodge a punch from Sakura. Then Naruto came in with Kokushibyo, right out of the tree that Sakura had managed to back Kakashi into.

The Jonin dodged with ease, eyes widening as Sasuke almost managed to catch him off guard with a couple of kunai. Kakashi jumped back, fending off Sakura with a kunai and the escaping Kokushibyo. Sakura and Naruto then retreated towards Sasuke as the Raven-haired boy blew out another fireball.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes, watching his three students suspiciously when they made no move to attack.

Sasuke and Sakura smirked and each took out a bell. Kakashi blinked and looked down to see that his remaining bell was still secure. He frowned at his students.

"We pass, don't we, sensei?" Sakura asked.

"These are real bells," Sasuke added, ringing his for emphasis.

"You said, and I quote 'If you get a bell, you pass,' you never gave a requirement for what bell it was," Naruto added, grinning, "So, I went to town and bought two bells, one for Sakura and one for Sasuke."

"So, we all pass, right?" Sakura asked.

Naruto and Sakura blinked hopefully with wide eyes at Kakashi. Sasuke glared as if daring the older man to fail them.

Kakashi blinked once, then twice, and then smiled. "You all pass." The three sighed in relief. "But it's not because you all got a bell. I'm impressed with your teamwork. Remember that the most important thing for shinobi is their teammates. That is the answer to this test. Although, Naruto got the highest marks, despite all of you passing."

Naruto grinned and gave a fist pump. "I knew it!" He cheered.

Sakura and Sasuke both looked at Kakashi and Naruto incredulously.

"Wait a second... Are you serious?" Sakura asked.

"Of course," Kakashi smiled before his face grew solemn and serious. "Teamwork was the answer to the test, the only thing that could help you pass. No one else has ever passed before, you know? You three are the first ones to have ever passed. You two," he nodded to Sasuke and Sakura, "Even though Sasuke was only thinking of himself and didn't want to work with anyone else and Sakura was only thinking of Sasuke, you managed to look underneath the underneath and accepted the plan I'm supposing that Naruto proposed.

"Before you three, all the previous students were too obedient. They never learned to look underneath the underneath. If they did, then they would have realized that while those that break the rules and codes of the ninja world are trash... But those that don't take care of their comrades are lower than trash." Kakashi's expression returned to a smile and he gave the three a thumbs up. "Alright, that ends the test. From tomorrow onwards Team Seven begins its duties!"

Sakura gave a fist pump upwards, Naruto doing the same not a second later. Sasuke smirked. And then, the four of them left the training grounds in high spirits, wondering what awaited them tomorrow.


	7. Notice

**HEY, EVERYONE! IMPORTANT NOTICE HERE!**

 _So, it's been ages since I've been active at all. Mostly because senior year is way, way more tiring than I thought and I've had way less energy and time to put into my fanfiction. What I am going to say, however, is that I'm kinda sad that my stories weren't really continued (I know, I know, I don't really have a right because I'm equally as disappointing as an author :( ), so there is the possibility that I may be continuing them, come March. HOWEVER, THIS IS ONLY A POSSIBILITY. It's honestly more likely that I'll just be derp and start writing completely new stories lol. Also, if I do choose to continue, I'll probably do it on AO3. I'm also putting my fanfictions over there (over the course of the next few days) in case anyone wants to download them! I'm putting them on AO3 by the penname Meaninglessness. And yes, I've made another account on here by the name of OrigamiCake and my stories on that account are on AO3 as well._

 _Thanks for reading, my friends! Good day!_

archiveofourown users / Meaninglessness


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